


I Forgot That You Existed

by direlesbians



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Chaos, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Slow Burn, University, holarke, once a crackshipper always a crackshipper, there will be sapphic content, this is a dramedy, yeah the title is a taylor swift reference leave me alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/direlesbians/pseuds/direlesbians
Summary: Three years after the defeat of Malivore, Hope and her friends are studying at Bridge Heights University. The gang are living normal lives; studying, partying, shopping for new looks. All that changes when Hope runs into someone she had long thought to be dead. Between the supernatural activity on campus and Josie's romantic involvement with his best friend, fate seems to be drawing Hope and Clarke together. Will she be able to fight destiny, or will they become partners once again? This is a holarke fic :)
Relationships: Josie Saltzman/Original Female Character(s), Milton "MG" Greasley/Lizzie Saltzman, Ryan Clarke/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 39
Kudos: 37





	1. Dress

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter One: Dress
> 
> Hope agrees to let Lizzie and Josie help her find a new look and meets the TA for her history class. The gang gets invited to a party.

Hope surveyed the large dining hall. There were students everywhere, first and second years for the most part, with a few grad students and professors sprinkled in. She checked her watch. 9:45am. _Shit_ , breakfast ended at ten. She quickly lined up and secured a plate of eggs and toast, an orange, and a coffee. She paid with her student card and headed toward the back of the hall, where she spotted Lizzie and Josie sitting with Kaleb.

Bridge Heights University, or BHU as the staff and students liked to call it, was a small-town university in North Carolina. The school was situated about five hours from Mystic falls, Virginia, and around one hour from the shoreline. The students were mostly locals as it wasn’t necessarily a party school, nor did it have highly regarded programs. It was simple, quiet. That’s what Hope liked about BSU.

“This _can’t_ be the _new_ Hope I was promised joining us for breakfast.” Lizzie Saltzman looked upon Hope, disappointedly as she approached the table.

“Lizzie,” Hope warned.

“Do _not_ Lizzie me.” The blonde girl shook her head. “We agreed upon a transformation; that you needed to stop dressing like a,” Lizzie reached across the table for hope’s hand, lowering her voice.

Hope gave her a tired look in return.

“Like a witch in _disguise_.”

“What’s wrong with this?” Hope suddenly felt self-conscious in her white t-shirt and blue jeans.

“Nothing.” Josie offered, attempting to comfort her older friend. “You look fine.”

“Yeah.” Lizzie spat. “That’s the issue here. Hope, sweetie, _darling_ …”

Hope rolled her eyes, unsure of how Lizzie managed to have the dramatics cranked up to ten this early in the morning.

“We agreed that you needed a new look. Nothing huge, but something with personality. You are _wasting_ your potential. You are a hot single chick experiencing living on your own for the first time. You need to _own_ that.”

“Okay, fine.” Hope sighed, mostly to get Lizzie to stop talking. “I just don’t really know _how_?”

“We can help with that.” Josie smiled warmly.

“Yes! We definitely can.” Lizzie wiggled excitedly in her chair. “I’ve been dying to do a makeover. After your morning classes, we’re going shopping.”

Hope took a deep breath. “Alright. I’ll text you.”

“So, is this a girl only shopping trip, or?” Kaleb inquired.

“Of course not,” Lizzie smiled. “You, my vampy friend are the only one with a car.” She let the enthusiasm go for the last half of the sentence, poking his shoulder lightly.

Kaleb narrowed his eyes at her poke but smiled. 

“Where’s MG?” Hope asked, noticing he hadn’t shown up for breakfast.

“He’s with um, Landon.” Josie said quietly. “They’re working on some Computer science project.”

“Cool.” Hope tried to sound like she meant it, but she wasn’t sure she did a very good job.

Things between her and Landon never really went back to normal after they ended their relationship last year. He wasn’t even supposed to be starting school this year, but he changed his mind last minute. Without telling her. _Cool_.

“So,” lizzie said. “Meet outside North residence hall at 3pm?”

Everyone nodded and Lizzie clapped her hands together “This is going to be so much fun.”

***

“Alright everyone” Professor Rivas addressed Hope’s intro history class. “Today we’ll continue covering the Ottoman Empire.” She began writing on the white board behind her.

Hope found the lectures fine, if a little boring. She’d gotten most of her intro courses for the first two semesters of her psychology major out of the way last year, when she was doing her classes online from Mystic Falls, but not history. Maybe she was somewhat dreading it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the subject, she was just used to a history that integrated supernatural occurrences, as opposed to one that pretended, they never happened.

“Oh, and I should have your _history of me_ papers back from my TA before the end of class.”

Hope frowned. Their first assignment had been to write their own history into an essay. It was mostly writing practice she assumed, but it _was_ meant to be somewhat personal. She wasn’t feeling super comfortable knowing that someone else got to read the _history of her_.

“Don’t worry,” Doctor Rivas winked at the class, as though she could read Hope’s mind. “The TA’s only get your student number, not your name.”

Hope let out a sigh of relief, opened her laptop and began taking notes.

One hour later there was a knock on the door.

“That’ll be the TA.” Professor Rivas put the cap back on her white board marker. “I’ll hand the essays back today, and we’ll continue the lecture on Thursday. Do not forget you have an online quiz due tonight at midnight.”

“Free at last.” Hope muttered under her breath as she began packing up her computer. She didn’t notice who had entered the classroom.

“Here you go Sharon; sorry I couldn’t get them to you sooner.”

Hope felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She knew that voice.

“No worries Ryan.” Hope heard her professor reply. “Keep up the good work.”

She kept her head turned away, slipping her laptop into its sleeve and then her bag. She packed up the rest of her things quickly and stood up in time to see a tall dark haired man leaving out the door.

Not so fast, Hope thought, making her way down the aisle of the lecture hall and out the door. Screw getting her grade back, she wanted to know what the hell Ryan Clarke was doing alive.

“Hey.” Hope snapped.

The stocky figure turned.

Her breath caught. For a moment she’d worried she’d been wrong, that she was just seeing things, that she’d have been shouting at some random upperclassmen for no reason.

But it was Clarke staring back at her.

His confused expression slipped quickly into a smirk. “Hello Hope.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

He crossed his arms. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Hope raise her hands but quickly realized where she was. Students were now filtering out of the classroom. It wasn’t safe to do magic.

“Answer the question, Clarke.” She closed some of the space between them.

He looked the same, maybe even younger. His clothes were different, he’d passed on the suit in favor of a dark green sweater over a dress shirt and jeans. He was wearing brown horn-rimmed glasses and she could see the beginnings of a five-o-clock shadow on his face. If Hope hadn’t heard him speak, she may have thought he was just any other tired out grad student.

“I believe they call it a master’s degree.” He leaned his left shoulder against the wall.

“Funny,” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously Clarke, you jumped into that pit.”

“And when my father was defeated, he spat me back out again. Human.” He gestured toward himself.

“Why would he do that?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes in death people have a change of heart.”

Hope’s eyes narrowed, “Like I’m supposed to believe y-” She was interrupted by her phone alarm buzzing. “Shit.”

Her next class was in three minutes, the one taught by the professor who would most definitely call her out in front of everyone for being late.

She looked around quickly before motioning with her hands. “ _Veritas tempus_.”

Clarke pursed his lips _. Truth spell_. “Still up to your old tricks I see.”

“Oh please, I’ve been saving this one for you.” Hope took another step toward him. “Why are you here Clarke?” She stepped toward him again.

“I’m working on a Master’s thesis.” He raised his hands defensively. “Happy?”

 _Seriously?_ Hope knew she didn’t have much time, but she had to make sure he wasn’t planning on hurting her friends. “Are you here to hurt anyone?”

“ _No_ , are you?”

She rolled her eyes, glancing again at her watch. “Shit. This isn’t over.” She turned, sprinting off in the other direction.

“What, you don’t have time to catch up with an old friend?” He called after her. “At least undo the-” He stopped himself. Hope wasn’t the only one pretending to be void of the supernatural at this school.

***

Despite escaping her Professors inquiry as to why she was late, hope’s heart was still pounding for the better half of her class. She was comforted by the fact that he was telling the truth when he told her he wasn’t going to hurt anyone, but she couldn’t help but feel like things had changed. So far, this school had been a safe haven. No monsters, no villains. They were here to learn, hang out, stay up late studying and eating pizza in the library. Now things felt… different. 

“Oh, yes.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yes!” Lizzie repeated, more forcefully this time.

“No!” Kaleb sighed. “Are you kidding me? It washes her out completely.”

He sat between Josie and Lizzie on the couch on the centre of the large changing room area. Hope was wearing what felt like the millionth outfit they’d picked out for her; a bright orange high necked crop top and black jeans with two white cloth stripes down the sides.

“Josie?” Hope inquired, hoping she would break the tie.

The brunette tilted her head. “It doesn’t really scream Hope to me.”

“Like I said.” Kaleb stood up, accepting his victory. “I’ve had enough of playing Project Runway for one day. “If you ladies need me, I’ll be at chipotle.”

As soon as his back was turned, Lizzie stuck her tongue out at him. “Well,” She stood up herself. “I still like the pants. And I think we have enough stuff that we can really get things started with this makeover.”

Hope sighed. “Great.”

She was exhausted. It felt like she’d been trying on clothes for days. She’d wished more than once for a monster to show up to have an excuse to get out of it. She loaded all her stuff into her arms.

“It’s about time you used your Harry Potter trust fund for something useful.” Lizzie smiled as they walked to the cash.

“As opposed to what, tuition?” Hope replied sarcastically. “You’re _so_ right.”

Hope looked down at the clothes in her arms, frowning a little. She wanted new clothes, she wanted to do this, but she was feeling like everything was moving around her, when she preferred to be the one doing the moving. On top of everything else she still hadn’t told them about seeing Clarke today. She couldn’t bring herself to, not after what happened to Josie as a consequence of what he did.

She couldn’t stop thinking about how suspiciously normal he looked, like he really belonged there. Hell, he looked like he belonged there more than she did. Could he have been telling the truth? Was he actually there for the same reason she was?

“Hey.” Josie put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re always going to be Hope. Now you’re just… Hope who wears patterns.”

They both laughed.

“Oh my god.” Lizzie stopped in her tracks, causing Hope and Josie to almost run into her.

“What the hell, lizzie?” Hope bent down to pick up the shirt that fell out of her arms.

“I’m sorry Hope but this is an emergency.” She sighed dreamily. “There’s one more thing you need to try on.”

Hope looked past lizzie to where the girls had set her gaze.

A light blue and white plaid mini dress hung on the wall. It had an a-line skirt, thin straps and rouching at the bust.

“I actually have to agree with you on this one Lizzie.” Hope smiled. “It’s perfect.”

It fit her like a glove.

“Damn hope.” Kaleb had returned with his burrito. “You’re starting to make me envy you.”

“Are you okay Josie?” Hope noticed the girl looking concerned.

Josie blushed a deep red. “ _Yes_.” She replied a little too quickly, “You just look really nice is all.”

“Its beautiful Hope.” Lizzie rubbed her eyes.

“Lizzie, are you…” Hope squinted “Are you crying?”

“No.” Lizzie sniffled. “I’m just really happy. We did it, you guys.” She pulled them all in for a resistant group hug. “I am so proud of us.”

The next week flew by, and the further Hope got from seeing Clarke the less real it seemed. So, naturally, it also only got harder and harder to tell Lizzie and Josie about their encounter. She knew it wasn’t right to keep it from them, but they were just so happy, and to be truthful so was she. So, she didn’t tell them, not yet.

A boy from her Wednesday psych research lab invited her a party on Saturday night. He introduced himself as Jeff like they hadn’t met on the first day if class, which she chalked up to her new look. She was kind of annoyed he didn’t remember her if she was being honest, but at the same time… he was cute. Long blonde hair tied in a knot at the back of his head, muscular arms and good bone structure. He shared that he was technically a fourth year, having changed his major twice already.

The party was to be at his parent’s house, a ten-minute walk from campus. Apparently, they traveled a lot, so he favored staying home to living on campus. He basically had the whole place to himself and Lizzie _had_ been bothering her forever to come to a party. She just wasn’t accustomed to the whole, party environment. She’d had her fair share of drunken nights sure, but They were all with Lizzie and Josie. She’d gotten drunk with Landon once, but it turned out to be a very bad idea. He gulped down half a bottle of vodka and told her what he wanted to name their children.

So, Hope figured it was time to see what a real party was all about.

“Are you gonna wear your new dress?” Josie smiled as she buttoned up what appeared to be a new cardigan. She left the first from the top and bottom two buttons open, exposing her belly button over the top of her black skirt.

“I was thinking something a bit more casual.” Hope pulled a sheer black top they’d bought on their shopping trip from its hanger, draping it across her chest and posing. It was long sleeved and cropped, with a celestial pattern embroidered in gold.

“Oh, hell yes.” Lizzie nodded, impressed. “You can borrow my bralette.”

Hope snorted “I don’t think that your bra is going to fit me Lizzie.”

“Relax,” Lizzie pulled it from her top drawer and placed her hand on Hope’s shoulder. Hope watched the bra change in size. “See?”

Hope squinted, holding it up. “It’s a little concerning that you know my size.”

“Okay, wear that and the black jeans.” Lizzie ignored the comment. She had already moved on to makeover phase two. “I’m thinking gold eyeliner.”

Hope let Lizzie make her up with soft gold eyeliner that matched the pattern on the shirt while Josie straightened her hair.

Soon enough there was a knock on the door and MG and Kaleb came through, both carrying backpacks.

“Um,” Lizzie eyed the bags. “If those are overnight bags,”

“Chill, Lizzie.” MG unzipped his bag, producing a six pack of beer and tossing it to Hope. “See? Definitely not sleeping gear.”

Hope caught the beer without flinching. “Thanks.”

Lizzie’s eye’s narrowed. “Did you or did you not get my raspberry vodka?”

“I got it.” He rolled his eyes. “At the cost of _all_ my dignity.”

She smiled, producing a package of disposable cups out what appeared to be thin air. “Don’t worry,” She reassured. “I got paper.”

“Thank god.” Kaleb shook his head, cracking open what looked like a giant energy drink.

“Is that, safe?” Hope eyed the giant can. She knew that she probably didn’t have to worry about the vamps drinking too much, their tolerance was significantly higher than hers.

“Uh, yes, it is.” Kaleb tossed a second can to MG and held a third out to Hope.

“No thanks.” She pulled a beer from its plastic ring. “My wolf tolerance has nothing on your vamp tolerance.”

“Suit yourself.”

Hope was clutching the last beer in the six pack in her hand as they approached the party. The good thing about going to a small-town university was that they would pretty much walk around doing whatever they liked if they were quiet enough, including carrying open liquor.

Bridge Heights was only a five-hour drive from Mystic Falls, but sometimes Hope felt like she was there still. It had the same trees, the same sidewalks. It had a lighter magical energy though, like nothing bad was lurking, no danger looming around the corner.

Of course, seeing Clarke had made her start questioning her senses. She knew she ought to tell her friends, she couldn’t keep this secret forever. And what better time than when she was feeling surprisingly tipsy from her first five beers.

“Hey, can I tell you guys something?” Hope stopped walking forward.

They gang turned to look at her, before shouting interrupted them.

“Hope!” Jeff came running out of the house to their left. “You came!”

Hope blushed, not expecting him to talk to her, let alone greet them at the door. “Hi, Jeff.”

She could hear the party now; she’d been too in her head to pick it up before. Heavy bass music was thumping, voices shouting.

“These are my friends,” Hope introduced everyone to jeff, and let them greet him as well.

“Come on inside,” Jeff motioned for them to follow him. “You guys got here just in time. My buddy just showed up with a keg.”

Hope turned back to look at Josie and grabbed her hand. “Stick with me?” She asked.

Josie smiled, relieved someone had noticed she was feeling anxious. “Deal.”

Jeff led them up the large walkway of his parents’ home. The front entrance featured large white and glass double doors, through which they could see some of what was going on inside. As soon as he opened the doors, the noise of the party hit Hope like a bick. The bass thumping now had accompanying voices and instruments. She was pretty sure she knew the song, but it was a remix of some sorts. The entryway led into what appeared to be two separate living rooms on the left and right, with a tall staircase and a hallway leading into a large kitchen straight ahead.

“There’s ice in the kitchen,” Jeff turned to Hope, making his fingers into guns, “I’ll see you later?”

“Uh, yeah sure.” Hope smiled as he disappeared into the party.

“Oh my god,” Lizzie giggled. “He’s into you.”

“Is this a date?” MG pointed between Hope and the direction Jeff had disappeared in. “Are we crashing?”

“Kill me.” Hope lead the way into the kitchen, pushing past a couple who were making out against the wall. “Excuse me.” She was starting to think she hadn’t been missing out on much.

The counter tops in the kitchen were white marble, the cabinets white to match with gold vases and picture frames used as accents. The décor made the red plastic cups, empty liquor bottles, and trash look very out of place. The large kitchen opened up onto an even more spacious deck and the patio door hung open, letting in the fall air.

Lizzie grabbed a handful of ice from the large bowl on the kitchen island, dropping it into her cup. “Jeff’s cute.” She offered.

Hope rolled her eyes. “Yeah well, I didn’t realize that by coming to this party I was accepting his hand in marriage.”

“I can tell you right now,” Kaleb finished the last of his giant can and crushed it in his hand. “That marriage is the last thing on that dudes mind.”

Hope sighed, taking another swig of her beer. She’d never hooked up with anyone, not anyone she wasn’t in a relationship with. She wasn’t opposed to the idea; she’d only ever had sex with Landon and was very interested in changing that. She at least wanted it to be with someone whose head she didn’t want to magically explode though.

Suddenly Lizzie spat her drink out.

“What the hell Lizzie?” Kaleb looked down at himself. Some of her projectile vodka sprite had landed on his shirt. “This is brand new!”

She ignored his protests, looking out onto the deck. “Is that who I think it is?”

Hope’s mouth went dry. _Fuck_. Sure enough, there Clarke was, leaning against the railing of the deck. He wasn’t wearing the glasses this time, just a black graphic t-shirt and jeans. Again, he appeared frighteningly normal. He spoke to a girl who looked to be around Hope’s age with dark skin and light brown hair done up in box braids. She was beautiful, smiling and laughing at whatever he was saying. Hope started to feel nauseous.

“Okay,” Hope moved to stand in front of Lizzie, blocking her gaze. “What I was trying to tell you earlier, is that I saw Clarke last week.”

“What?” Josie frowned. “What do you mean you _saw_ him?”

“He’s the TA from my history class, and before you get upset with me, I did a truth spell on him.” Hope turned to look at Josie. “He claimed to be human now, and said he was here for the same reason we are. I didn’t know how to tell you guys, okay? It didn’t seem real, but I totally understand if you’re mad at me, especially after what he did to you Josie.”

Josie sighed. “I’m not mad,” She took a gulp of her drink. “I’ve made peace with what happened. I’m a different person now. I’m just… a little unnerved.”

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” Hope said. “If he has any ulterior motives, I’ll find out what they are, okay?” She turned.

"You cannot go over there right now." Lizzie grabbed Hope's arm.

"Why not?" The brunette pulled away defensively.

"Because,” Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “you've already had six beers and you are a _very_ flirty drunk."

"Am _not_." Hope scoffed, straightening her back.

"Yes, you are, and so is Josie.” Lizzie crossed her left arm over her chest and rested her right hand, which held her drink on top of it. “Need I remind you both of the cherry lime wine cooler incident?"

"Lizzie!" Josie shouted; the music had gotten louder. "We promised never to speak of that."

“Wait,” MG spoke up. “I want to know about the cherry lime wine cooler incident.”

"It's the truth!” Lizzie ignored his comment. “She can't talk to a literal killer in this state, she’s completely useless." 

Hope downed the last two gulps of the aforementioned sixth beer and tossed it in the garbage can across the room. "Watch me." She set off in the direction of the deck.

"I'm coming too." Josie looked back at her sister. "You should know by now that if you want Hope Mikaelson not to do something, you shouldn't let her find out."

“Ugh,” Lizzie huffed, watching them leave. “Let’s do shots.”

“That’s the spirit!” MG clapped his hand on her shoulder. “Not raspberry vodka though.”

Lizzie pouted.


	2. Look What You Made Me Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope confronts Clarke... again, Josie gets her flirt on, and the party turns rowdy in more ways than one.

“What are you going to say?” Josie whispered in Hope’s ear as they stepped out onto the deck. It was large, and several groups of people separated them from Clarke and the girl he was talking to.

Hope stopped. “I… I don’t actually know.” She was starting to think she might be a little more drunk than she realized.

Josie turned to face her. “Don’t you think we should have a plan or something?”

Hope’s assured expression faded. “I-”

“Hope?”

Clarke had spotted her from across the deck. _Shit_. She was beginning to regret her decision.

“Clarke, good.” She said, perhaps a little too forcefully, crossing over to where he and the girl stood. “I need to talk to you.”

“Sure thing.” He smiled. “I’ve always got time for my good friend Hope.”

He was leaning against the railing of the deck, one foot crossed over the other. Up close she could see that his shirt said “Purple Rain” accompanied by the signature photo of Prince atop a motorcycle in a smokey alleyway. She hadn’t noticed last week but his hair was longer than she remembered, some of the curls beginning to fall onto his forehead.

“Hi, I’m Stella.” Suddenly the girl’s hand was extended toward her.

“Uh, Hope.” She shook the hand, not really expecting to be introduced. “Anyway, I just wanted to follow up on our conversation from-”

“What’s your name?” The girl interjected again, this time extending her hand to Josie.

The brunette, who had been somewhat hiding behind Hope emerged. With Josie’s arrival came the departure of all the color in Clarke’s face.

Hope frowned. He looked almost… _remorseful_.

“Josie.” Clarke answered before she could, shoving a hand in his pocket awkwardly. “It’s good to see you.”

Josie nodded. “Same to you.” She smiled politely.

Hope could tell they were avoiding making eye contact with each other.

Hope didn’t know much about Clarke and Josie’s relationship while she had been erased from everyone’s memory, just that he had manipulated her into practicing black magic. When Josie spoke about it now though, she seemed to have made peace with the experience. She’d grown up a lot in the past two years and had come a long way to overcome her darkness. Hope still worried that seeing Clarke would put her backwards in time.

“Well, you could cut this tension with a knife.” Stella exhaled comically. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on here?”

“They’re from the magic school I told you about.” Clarke explained.

“I’m sorry, _she_ knows about the school?” Hope interjected. “Are you just going around using our school as a pick up line or..?”

Clarke and Stella both laughed.

Hope’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Am I missing something?”

“Stella,” Clarke tipped the beer bottle in his hand toward her. “Is a vampire.”

“Guilty.” Stella bowed dramatically.

“We met a few years back, and she’s been helping me… make amends.”

“We’ve been helping each other,” She reminded him. “And by the way, I’m _not_ into guys.” Stella looked at Josie, who blushed.

Hope sighed. “Do you really expect me to believe that you are here, as a human, to make amends for what you’ve done, and you’re being helped by a vampire?”

“You know what, I think you two might need to hash this one out alone.” Stella pointed to Josie’s empty hands. “You don’t have a drink. Can I get you one?”

“I, um,” Josie stammered, looking to Hope for approval.

Hope nodded silently, giving her the okay to leave her alone with Clarke.

“Sure, yeah.” Josie smiled.

Stella took Josie’s hand and led her back toward the house. “Smell you later, Ryan.”

Hope eyed Clarke. “Is she…”

“She’s under control.” He replied. “And from what I remember, Josie can handle herself.”

“How much _do_ you remember anyway?” Hope crossed her arms. “Hmm?”

“I remember that you and I were friends the last time I saw you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t.” Hope snorted. “I do, however, remember you trying to go all invasion of the body snatchers on me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “You know that’s not what happens in invasion of the body snatchers, right?”

“And then, when you couldn’t get of inside of me, you tried to go for your brother instead.” She smiled mock-sweetly. “Should we try to unpack that one, or?”

Hope heard someone laugh. A group of girls standing near them had overheard her.

“Can we _please_ talk about this somewhere else?” He asked. “This sounds really bad out of context.”

“It’s obviously worse in context!” Hope whisper-shouted.

He was right though; it was stupid to be talking about this stuff out in the open.

“Fine.” Hope looked around for a quieter place to talk.

“I uh, think someone’s trying to get your attention.” Clarke pointed behind her.

When Hope turned, she saw Jeff standing by the patio door, beckoning her to him.

She turned back around quickly. “Shit.”

Clarke grinned. “Does Jeff _like_ you?”

“What are we, twelve years old?” Hope snapped. “Wait, you know him?”

“I tutored him in history last year.” Clarke said, waving him over. “He’s an idiot.”

“No,” She grabbed his hand, perhaps a bit too forcefully she realized when he made a pained expression.

“Hope!” Jeff came up beside her, resting his elbow on her shoulder. “This is for you.” He handed her a drink.

“Oh,” She took the cup from him, raising it to her nose. “Oh, my god.” It reeked of hard liquor.

“Hey.” Jeff looked at Clarke. “Ryan, right? History guy.”

“That’s me.” Clarke smiled. He was clearly enjoying the awkward encounter.

Hope couldn’t say the same for herself.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Jeff frowned, moving his elbow from Hope’s shoulder.

“No-” Clarke began to answer but Hope cut him off.

“Yes, actually.” She reluctantly took a step toward Clarke. “You know, we got talking and he is just so…” Hope punched his shoulder. “ _Charming_.”

“That’s right.” Clarke smiled through gritted teeth, rubbing his shoulder.

“Oh, sorry.” Jeff rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, Hope I will uh, see you in lab on Monday I guess.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

As soon as Jeff was out of sight, Hope pushed Clarke away from her.

“Hey,” he stumbled. “Human, remember?”

“Sorry.” She sighed. If the whole human thing was an act, he appeared to be doing an excellent job. “That was so uncomfortable.”

“Did you give him any indication that you were into him or was he just-”

“Being a guy?” Hope rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“Hey, at least you got a drink out of it.” He offered.

“Yeah,” Hope looked down at the red cup, scrunching her nose. “But I think it’s just straight rum or something.”

“Let me see.” he took the cup from her.

She took another small step back. She’d caught his scent when they were standing close a few moments ago. It was familiar, but different at the same time. She remembered him smelling dark and earthy before. He still smelled like that, but softer, more like a human. There was something else though, something she recognized from somewhere.

“It’s whiskey.” He passed it back to her. “Come on, there’s soda in the kitchen.”

He motioned for her to follow him and she did.

* * *

"So," Stella raised her beer to her lips. She was sitting up on the kitchen counter in front of Josie, who leaned against the island behind her. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

"That," Josie laughed, taking a sip of her own drink. "Is a loaded question."

“I’m listening.”

“Its….” Josie trailed off. “Complicated.”

Stella smirked. "What if I like complicated?"

Josie squinted at her.

"Sorry," Stella shook her head. "That was corny as hell."

"No," Josie laughed. "You know what, you saw an opening and you went for it. Nothing wrong with that."

"Okay, well you are way too nice."

Josie blushed. “Yeah, I’ve been told that before.”

“So, you really aren’t gonna answer my question?”

Josie watched as Stella set down her beer and moved her hands to rest on the counter between her knees. She wore a white tube top and plaid trousers with leather lace up boots. Her braids were long and pulled up into a half ponytail, which fell loosely around her bare shoulders.

“I honestly don’t think I have time to.” Josie laughed. “It’s a really long story.”

“You wanna know what I think?” Stella leaned forward.

Josie nodded.

Stella motioned for her to move closer. “Okay, come here.”

Josie stepped away from the countertop she was leaning on so that she rested almost between Stella’s legs. She could feel her own heart beating in her chest and wondered if the vampire could as well.

Stella raised her hands to josies head without touching her and closed her eyes. She hummed dramatically for a few seconds before opening them again.

Josie looked concerned. “What was that?”

“I was reading your energy, _obviously_.”

“Reading my energy?” Josie asked skeptically

Stella nodded, smiling mischievously.

Josie laughed again. “Okay so, what’s the verdict?” She started into the girl’s light brown eyes.

Stella smiled bigger. “ _Definitely_ a bad witch.”

Before Josie could respond Stella had closed the space between their lips. Josie kissed her back, moving so her pelvis pressed against the counter between Stella’s legs.

Stella responded by trapping Josie’s hips between her knees, her hands holding the sides of her head.

After a few moments of this, Stella pulled away from the kiss, grinning. “I guess I was right.”

Josie laughed, “I guess you were.” and leaned in to kiss her again.

* * *

“There,” Clarke finished pouring ginger ale into the cup in Hope’s hands. “Try that.”

She sniffed it suspiciously and took a sip without taking her eyes off him.

Hope raised her eyebrows. “It’s actually really good.”

“What did I tell you.” He smirked.

“Well,” She sighed. “I’m still not sure I like parties.”

“No one likes parties,” He rolled his eyes. “At least no monsters turned up this time. All the alcohol makes for a messy clean up.”

“Wait,” Hope stopped him. “There are monsters here?”

“Did you think we were partying with undergrads for fun?” He raised an eyebrow. “We’re patrolling.”

Hope frowned.

“You really didn’t know?” Clarke squinted. “What have you been doing the past month?”

Hope shrugged. “Studying, going to class. I thought things were quiet here.”

“Hope, when my father was defeated _all_ of the monsters in Malivore were let out.”

“I _know_ that, Clarke.” He was starting to piss her off again _._ “We’ve spent the last three years killing them.”

“The one’s in Mystic Falls, yeah.” He drank from his cup. “Not the one’s here.”

Hope groaned. She had really let herself believe that leaving Mystic Falls meant leaving imminent danger. Of course, if he was telling her the truth, that meant it was all too good to be true.

“You know, there’s a group of magical creatures on campus.” He said. “It was started by three witches in 1975, disguised as a feminist collective. We deal with all kinds of stuff, not just monsters. It’s just me, Stella, and a few others now but if you or your friends want to come to a meeting-”

“We don’t need your help.” She said dismissively. “And just for the record; the idea of having to see you again after tonight does not appeal to me. At all.”

“Suit yourself." He shrugged. “Oh, and by the way that paper you wrote was terrible.”

“What?” Hope glared. He was talking about her history paper, the one that was supposed to be about her life. The one he graded. The one she had to check her mark for online because she’d been busy confronting him instead of getting it back. The one her gave her 65% on. “I thought you weren’t supposed to know who wrote them.”

“I mean, before yeah, but after you confronted me in the hallway it seemed so obvious.” He drank from his cup again. “Sorry about the breakup by the way. If it’s any consolation, I was _totally_ rooting for you guys.”

Hope glared at him. She regretted writing about her breakup with Landon in her paper, but it wasn’t like she could disclose much else notable in her life. Not without the risk of being admitted to a psych ward.

“So, what?” She crossed her arms. “You’re done being nice now because I don’t want to join your stupid club?”

“Look,” He sighed. “It wasn’t terrible, but your writing needs work.”

“Says you,” She scoffed. He was lying. She’d gotten straight A’s through high school and done fantastic in her intro courses last year. Hell, she’d been writing in a journal her entire life. Her writing was fine, in fact it was more than fine. It was, fantastic.

“Let me guess,” He smiled. “You’ve always been naturally good at everything.”

Hope clenched her jaw. “Not quite.”

“Well, if you want to do better, I can help.” He raised his palms. “I figure I owe it to you after what I did.”

“Like I said, seeing you after tonight is the last thing-” She began to respond but was interrupted by shouting at the other end of the kitchen.

“Ah fuck.” Clarke swore, looking across the room.

“What is it?” Hope turned toward the noise.

“Remember when I said no monsters had shown up?” He set his beer down. “I forgot about the ones already attending the party.”

They pushed their way through the crowd that was slowly forming. At the centre was Stella with her hand around the throat of a guy who looked, to Hope’s surprise, more pissed off than frightened. Josie stood behind them, with her eyebrows knit together angrily.

“You still wanna watch?” Stella tightened her grip around his throat.

“Screw you, bitch.” He seemed drunkenly unphased.

“This is bad.” Clarke groaned. “Stella, knock it off.”

She turned to him, noticing the crowd that had formed. “Not until he apologizes.”

Hope could see her eyes were beginning to turn red.

“Not gonna happen.” The boy said, his voice strained.

Stella glared back at him, squeezing tighter. “What is it about alcohol that makes men think they’re invincible?”

“ _Adtono_.” Hope whispered the spell and the crowd went back to dancing and talking among themselves.

Clarke looked at her. “That’s useful.”

“It’s temporary,” She warned. “Calm her down.”

Clarke stepped up beside Stella. “You gotta stop, he’s not going to apologize.”

“I can’t do _nothing_ ,” She spat through gritted teeth. “Guys like him get away with whatever they want.”

Hope looked around. “Kaleb? MG? Emergency.” She shouted, hoping one of them could hear her.

Kaleb was at her side in moments. “What’s up?” He caught sight of Stella. “Oh, that’s up.”

“Can you calm her down?” She asked.

He shrugged. “I can try.”

Kaleb stepped up beside them. “Hey, it’s Stella right?”

She gave him a warning look. “Yeah.”

“Listen, I’m sure whatever this guy did was really fucking bad but you have to believe me when I say this is not the time or the place to get revenge, okay?”

Stella loosened the chokehold, looking over to Josie who nodded.

“Believe me,” Kaleb repeated. “It’s not worth it.”

She turned back to the boy whose neck she held in her hand, her eyes going dark. “Forget this happened, go home.” She compelled him, and then added as an afterthought before letting him go, “And never watch girl on girl porn again.”

She dropped him and he fell to the floor. Nobody helped him up.

Stella fell into Clarke, tears streaming down her face and he wrapped his arms around her.

Hope noticed Josie was still standing back, wringing her hands together.

“Are you good?” Hope asked.

Josie nodded. “Just a little rattled.”

“What happened?” Hope lowered her voice.

Josie shook her head. “Oh, you know, just some run of the mill homophobic asshole.”

Hope nodded, she did know. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” Josie looked at Stella, who was now wiping her eyes.

“Heightened emotions,” Hope whispered, following her gaze. “I don’t look forward to that part of being a vampire.”

“Thank you,” Clarke said to Kaleb.

The boy rolled his eyes, “Yeah, don’t worry about it Professor V. You know, I thought you’d be a lot better at talking down vampires considering you’ve got all that work experience.”

Clarke’s face fell and Hope failed to hold back a snort.

“We should go,” Josie said, looking around. “Kaleb,”

“Yeah?”

“Where are Lizzie and MG?”

His eyes widened. “Oh no.”

“You left them alone!?” Josie groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Clarke asked.

“Nothing.” Hope dismissed him.

“We might be able to help-”

“You’ve done enough.”

“Hope,” Josie nodded toward Stella, who was looking worse for wear.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that none of this is ideal.” Hope sighed. “Kaleb, do you know where they are?”

“Living room last I checked,” He pointed down the hallway.

Josie led them to the living room as quickly as she could part the crowds but as soon as they spotted the two of them it was obvious that they were too late. Lizzie and MG were on the couch completely entangled, with their tongues down each other’s throats.

The music in the living room was quieter than the kitchen. Hope could see a few other couples in similar positions as well as a group that looked to be playing some kind of drinking game on the floor.

“You have got to be kidding me, Liz.” Josie whined, attempting to grab her sister’s arm and pull her away.

Lizzie ignored her.

Clarke scratched his head. He’d followed them along with Stella because he thought they might be in some kind of trouble. “I wouldn’t have guessed that these two would be-”

“They’re actually _not_ together anymore,” Hope raised her voice, hoping they might hear her and snap out of it. “They do this every time they drink.”

“Ok, buddy,” Kaleb grabbed MG by the shoulders, successfully separating the two. “Time out.”

“What the hell?” MG shouted. “Get off of me.”

Lizzie reached for MG but Kaleb gave her a warning look and she shrugged back.

“You guys need to stop doing this,” Josie shook her head. “Look at yourselves.”

MG’s shirt was completely untucked, and he was missing a shoe, as well as possibly one of the buttons on his shirt. Lizzie’s ponytail had almost completely fallen out and her mascara was streaked under her eyes. They both had a suspicious amount of lipstick on their faces and necks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lizzie slurred, clearly very drunk.

“I don’t know what you guys are doing all up in our private business,” MG sounded like he may be in even worse shape than she was. “That’s for sure.”

Lizzie laughed. “You are so _funny_.”

MG smiled at her. “No, you’re funny.” He tried to go to her again but realized Kaleb was still holding him and frowned.

Hope took a deep breath. “I think it’s time for us all to go home.”

Kaleb and Josie nodded in agreement.

“I can give you guys a ride,” Clarke pulled a set of keys out of the pocket of his jeans. “I’ve only had one. Some of you will have to sit in the back though.”

“Thanks!” Josie replied, before Hope could refuse his offer.

“Yeah,” Hope said, defeated. “That would honestly be great.”

She didn’t have it in her to argue any more tonight, she was too exhausted. They all were.

So, they piled into Clarke’s pickup truck. Kaleb agreed to sit in the back with MG so they could keep him and Lizzie, who was now basically asleep, separated. Josie and Stella held hands from the house all the way to where the truck was parked so Hope did the kind thing, the thing she really didn’t want to do, and volunteered to sit in the front with Lizzie and Clarke.

“She helped Lizzie into the middle seat and climbed in after her, letting the girl fall against her shoulder.

“She looks so peaceful now.” Clarke smirked.

Hope smiled. “Lizzie Saltzman is the most ruthless person I know.” She brushed a strand of hair out of the sleeping girls face. “She’s also the horniest.”

They both laughed.

Clarke pressed play on the cd player, and a soft upbeat song started. Hope recognized the man’s voice but couldn’t think of the name.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Hope had one hand out the window, letting the wind dance between her fingers. She remembered what it felt like to fly with Landon. She closed her eyes, recounting the feeling of weightlessness. Like the while world was pulling away from her, sinking beneath her feet…

When the song changed, this time a woman’s voice sang.

_I can just hear them now  
"How could you let us down?"  
But they don't know what I found  
Or see it from this way around_

“Is this,” Hope turned to Clarke, humored. “A mix CD?”

“It is.” He looked over at her, careful not to take his eyes off the road for too long.

“Wow, you really are hundreds of years old.” Hope snorted.

“Ouch,” He smiled at her, but it faded slowly. “How do you know that?”

“I’m 21 Clarke, I know what a mixed CD is.”

“No,” He shook his head as he stopped the truck at a red light. “How do you know how old I am?”

She looked at him. The glow from the stop light was cast across his face, lighting up the front seat in crimson. His stare was unguarded.

“I,” Hope wasn’t really sure. “I guess Landon must have told me.” She shrugged.

He nodded, facing front again as the light turned green.

* * *

“It’s the prefrontal cortex,” Josie whispered to Stella in the dark.

“Huh?”

They sat side by side in the back of the truck, their legs pulled up against them both. Kaleb and MG sat across from them, both silently looking at their phones.

“It’s what makes men think they’re invincible,” Josie smiled. “Alcohol makes it harder for the prefrontal cortex to work properly, disrupting decision making and judgement.”

Stella gave her an astounded look. “Have I been making out with a neuroscience major all night?”

Josie grinned, nodding her head. “Well, technically I plan on double majoring in Neuropsych and Linguistics.”

“Wow,” Stella bumped their shoulders together. “That’s hot.”

Things were silent for a while as they watched the small-town pass by. It was so quiet at night, so void of excitement, so calm. Fall had yet to begin, so the trees still sported all their leaves, casting heavy shadows on the road in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry,” Stella broke the silence. “About how I reacted.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Josie shook her head.

“I know,” She looked down. “I really don’t lose control like that often. It’s just that I’ve been the same age for thirty years, and I’ve spent all of them wanting to kiss girls. I wanted to do it five years ago, ten years ago, twenty… and whenever I did, there has always been some asshole who had a problem with it. I guess I’m just tired of dealing with the same shit, like nothing’s changed.”

Josie intertwined her finger’s with Stella’s and nodded. She rested her head on the girl’s shoulder, who returned the gesture. It was quiet enough that the music filtered in from the front seat, mixing with the sound of tires on pavement.

_Man, I know that it is hard to digest  
But maybe this story ain't so different from the rest  
And I know it seems wrong to accept  
But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets_

When the truck pulled up to the North residence building Hope got out to let Kaleb pick Lizzie up and carry her back to her dorm. MG followed close behind, yawning. Hope noticed he was still missing a shoe and wondered if he had any idea. It seemed unlikely.

She paused by the open passenger side door. “Thank you.” She said begrudgingly. “For, all of this. I do appreciate it.”

“Does this mean you’ll rethink my offer?”

She frowned, “Your what?”

“The group,” He said. “Will you come?”

“Right, the group.” Hope shook her head. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

He nodded. “It was good to see you Hope.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

He smiled as she turned away to let Stella crawl into the passenger seat.

Hope put her arm around Josies shoulders, and they walked back to their rooms together.

“What a night,” Hope yawned.

“Yeah,” Josie agreed. “You and Clarke seemed to be getting along.”

“He was trying to get me to join some magical vigilante organization.”

Josie nodded, “Yeah, Stella told me about it. Apparently, she knew its founders.”

“He seems to think he can use it make up for all the terrible things he’s done.”

“And you?”

Hope let her arm fall from Josie’s shoulder as they arrived at her door. “I think that there are a lot of things that can’t be forgiven.”

“Well,” Josie pulled out her keys. “Have you considered that maybe if you started believing in the forgiveness of others you might start forgiving yourself.”

Hope looked down.

“Look,” Josie said. “What he did to me, it was really messed up. He took advantage of me, and my magic and I’m not going to forget that but holding a grudge… Hope, it isn’t going to do either of us any good.”

“Okay,” Hope sighed. “Well, A-plus on the personal growth Jos’ but I’m just not there yet.”

“You don’t have to be.” Josie hugged her. “Goodnight Hope.”

“Goodnight Josie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was fun to read, I really enjoyed writing it. I feel like the story is really starting to write itself which is fun. The song is meant to be same ol’ mistakes by rihanna, which is a cover of new person, same old mistakes by tame impala. If I have any parks and rec fans reading this, I want to say that Lizzie and MG are giving me Ron and Tammy 2 energy. Also, I really hope you like Stella.


	3. Haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope finds out she's failing history, and an unwanted ally helps her deal with a monster attack.

“Failing!?” Hope leaned against Professor Rivas’ desk. “This can’t be happening,”

“I’m sorry hope,” She said, placing a hand on the girls’ shoulder. “But you’ve failed 4 out of the six online quizzes, and as for your midterm…” She pulled the exam from a folder on her desk. “You did fine on the multiple choice but, your essay questions were not admissible.”

Hope could not believe what was happening. She’d been working so hard this semester. After the party a few weeks ago she’d been a very dedicated student. She spent her days in the library, reading and studying. _So what_ if she avoided her History readings at all costs. She was trying, she was.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Well,” The professor sighed. “It’s too late to drop the course, but I am able to offer you an extra credit assignment. If you can manage that, along with an 80% on the final exam you can still bump your mark up to a C.”

Hope nodded, “Definitely.”

“Alright,” She pulled another piece of paper from the folder and handed it to Hope. “I want you to write a short essay. Since you’ve mentioned in class that you’re interested in art I’d like you to read the novel listed at the top of this page. You can write your essay on the book.”

Hope nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’ll need to get the book in town.” Professor Rivas smiled. “And Hope,” She added, as the girl was turning to leave. “I left you the contact info for one of my grad students. If you need any help, I strongly suggest you give him a call”

Hope thanked her and headed out the door. When she got into the hallway, she looked at the paper. At the bottom of the outline she saw the contact information:

Ryan Clarke, BA  
[r.clarke3@bsu.com](mailto:r.clarke3@bsu.com)  
555-9805

 _Great_ , she thought. It didn’t matter though; she definitely wouldn’t be needing help. She was going to do this on her own.

She tucked the paper into her backpack and pulled out her earbuds. She queued an art podcast and began the 25-minute walk into town. It was only 4:30 and the shop closed at 6 on Fridays so she would have lots of time to grab her book.

It was finally starting to look like fall now that it was mid-October. The trees sported some yellow and orange leaves, but they hadn’t yet begun to litter the ground. It was far from chilly, however. Hope pulled her denim jacket off, tying it around her waist. She was wearing a dark green long-sleeved sweater dress; another piece lizzie had picked out for her, and her hair was tied back in a loose bun, keeping it from blowing in the warm breeze. Her white sneakers squeaked on the sidewalk as she strolled.

As she made her way into town, she saw that the shops had all begun to decorate for Halloween. Pumpkins and ghosts were drawn on shop windows, some with happy faces, others angry. One in particular caught her eye. It was a painting of a man with a jack o lantern head, looming over a pair of trick or treaters. For shop window paint it was _frighteningly_ realistic. Hope shrugged it off and kept walking. The bookstore was only a block further, and she was dying for an iced coffee.

Writ & Wisdom was a small independent bookstore and café in Bridge Heights which happened to be owned by Alaric’s friend Millie. He’d introduced she and the girls their first week at school and Hope had returned more than a few times to study or grab a coffee.

She opened the door to the café, sounding the doorbell. It was somewhat empty, with a only few solo patrons sitting at tables in front of the café counter. Books lined every inch of the walls, save the windows, including the side of the tall staircase leading to the upper level. The stacks extended toward the back of the store, further than could been seen from the front.

“Hope, darling,” Millie smiled, spotting her come in. “It’s good to see your face.”

Millie was a short, round woman with what Hope deemed to be the most magnificent long grey curly hair she’d ever seen. She was pale with dark green eyes and always seemed to be wearing a different patterned apron. Today it was pastel pink with green vines stitched all over.

“Hi Millie,” Hope came up to the counter and leaned her elbows against it. “How are you?”

“Oh, you know,” The woman shrugged as she filled a to go cup with coffee. “ _Caffeinated_ , you?”

“Not caffeinated enough,” She smiled.

“Well, we can fix that.” Millie said as she reached for a plastic cup, filled it with ice and pumped syrup on top. She poured in some cream and filled the rest from a jug she retrieved from the fridge behind her labeled COLD BREW in scratchy sharpie writing.

“Here,” She popped a lid on the cup, “Iced coffee with caramel syrup, your favorite.”

Hope smiled, pulling a five-dollar bill from her wallet.

Millie shook her head, “It’s on the house for you. Now, tell me what brings you in, because I know you’re not here just to see me.”

“I’m sort of flunking history,” Hope admitted, pulling the paper from her bag and showing it to Millie. “And I need this book to pass.”

The woman nodded, smiling. “It’ll be in the back, Art History section, shelf 46.”

“Thanks Millie,” Hope returned the smile, poking a straw into her iced coffee cup and heading toward the back of the store.

The stacks smelled like the library at the Salvatore School, full of old and new books. She took in a deep breath. She loved books stores, specifically because she could sense that some of the books had a magical energy about them. Not many, and not much, but it was there, lingering.

She traced her hand down the spine of a book that emitted a gentle magical hum. In moments like this she envied Josie and Lizzie, wishing she could siphon the magic, feel where it came from, the story it told. When she touched the book though, the hum got louder.

“That’s odd…” She whispered.

She grabbed hold of the book with her free hand and began to pull it from the shelf carefully.

“Looking for something?”

Hope recognized the voice and stopped pulling the book. She pushed it back onto the shelf and turned. “Are you stalking me?”

Clarke smirked. “You know, I am really good at following people. It’s probably one of my top five skills.”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“The other four would probably be-”

“I don’t care, what your top five skills are.” she pushed past him, heading further back into the stacks.

“That’s because you haven’t heard about skill number three.” He replied suggestively, leaning over her shoulder.

She kept walking. “You didn’t answer me.” She sipped her iced coffee.

Ignoring his comment seemed like a good idea.

“No,” He said reluctantly. “I am not stalking you.”

She stopped, turning to face him again. He had the brown rimmed glasses on again, the ones he wore the first time she saw him on campus. He was wearing blue t-shirt and slacks and carried two books. Hope could tell the books were thick, but they looked small in his large hands.

Clarke held up the books, noticing her staring. “Magical folklore.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “That’s what you’re studying?”

He nodded.

“Must be nice to be able to learn about something that interests you,” Hope taunted, as she traced her finger across the spines of several books.

“What’s you major?”

“Psychology.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Not art?”

“No,” She stopped touching the books and looked at him. “There isn’t much of an art program here, and I don’t want to turn something I enjoy into school.”

Clarke nodded.

“So, do you need something, or are you just bothering me for fun?”

“Dr. Rivas told me you were failing history, Hope.”

“Well, she shouldn’t have,” She turned away from him again, walking off in the direction of the book she needed. “Because I have everything under control.” She added, over her shoulder.

_What isle was it again? 48? 42?_

“Famous last words,” He said, following her.

“You know,” She kept up her pace. “I can tell you’ve developed some kind of hero complex these past few years, but you should know that I don’t need saving.”

 _Why_ was he being so persistent? She did not want his help, and she sure as hell didn’t want to find out what skill number three was.

“I’m not trying to save you Hope,” He sounded tired. “I’m just trying to do my job.”

“ _I’m_ ,” She whipped around, gesturing to herself. “Not your job.”

He leaned against a bookshelf. “Unfortunately, no, my job is a lot duller.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do _what_?”

“Flirt with me,” She crossed her arms, looking up at him.

He towered over her, even now as he rested his back against the stacks with his head turned toward her.

“Okay,” He smiled, barely phased by her candor. “Let me help you with history and I’ll stop.”

She laughed. “That’s not going to make you stop.”

“You’re probably right.” He looked her up and down.

She wanted to tell him how _insufferable_ he was being, but she knew he’d like that a bit too much.

“We aren’t doing this,” Hope set off again for her book. It was a lot easier to be cold to him when her back was turned.

Now she really couldn’t remember what isle the book was in.

“Doing _what_?” He called after her.

“This playful banter thing,” She replied. “You know, you say something snarky, I reply saucily, we eventually decide we don’t actually hate one another and team up to fight monsters together,” She sighed, turning around to face him. “It’s not going to happen.”

“Hope-”

He was interrupted by a thud from behind them.

She eyed him suspiciously. “What was that?”

“Don’t ask me,” Clarke shook his head, following her toward the noise.

Hope traced their steps back to the spot she was standing when he approached here, where she found the book, the one that was humming laying on the floor. It was flipped open to a page with an illustration on it. As Hope got closer she recognized the picture, it was the jack o lantern man she’d seen painted on the shop window. She knelt down and picked up the book, setting her coffee down on the floor.

“What the hell,” Clark leaned over her shoulder.

Hope flipped to the next page and read the title. “Stingy Jack. He was an Irish drunkard who tricked Satan into barring him from hell.”

“A drunk _barred_ from Hell? You have to admit that’s kind of poetic.” Clarke offered. “Do you think it means something?”

“I saw him earlier, painted on a ship window.” Hope closed the book, her index finger holding the page and picked up her coffee with her free hand as she stood. “Books don’t usually fly off shelves unless there’s magic involved. I have a bad feeling-”

She was interrupted by what sounded like breaking glass from outside, followed by several shrieks.

Hope pressed the book against Clarke’s chest and shoved her iced coffee in his hand. “Hold these,” She set off in the direction of the noise, Clarke following close behind her.

When hope and Clarke got to the front of the shop Millie, along with the few customers, were all crouched behind the counter.

“Hope,” Millie ushered them over. “There’s something out there.”

More screaming came from outside, as they watched several people run by.

Clarke reached for his phone. “I’m calling in for backup.”

“No,” Hope shook her head, moving closer to the shop door, where the customers and Millie couldn’t hear her. “I can handle this, just, tell me if this book says anything about how to kill him.”

Clarke looked hesitant but nodded and let her lead him onto the street.

The road was a mess, covered in broken glass and smashed fall decorations. Pumpkins were smeared on the sidewalk, leaving streaks of orange and yellow. In the middle of the road stood the culprit. A man in a pair of overalls and a checkered shirt who had to be at least seven feet tall. The bulk of this height could be attributed to his giant head, which resembled a jack o lantern. Green smoke ran from the creature’s eyes, mouth and nose.

“Oh, well that’s way less scary than the picture.” Clarke remarked sarcastically, flipping through the pages of the book.

Upon catching sight of them, the pumpkin man let out a roar, spewing pumpkin guts and green smoke from its mouth. The rest of the street was empty, as most of the townsfolk had run away or were hiding in the shops like the patrons of Millie’s.

Hope couldn’t chance anyone seeing them, so she raised her hands and used her magic to throw him into a nearby alleyway. “ _Ictus_.”

They followed him into the narrow space, lit dimly by a single lamp above a doorway. The pumpkin man appeared to be temporarily subdued but was beginning to stir.

Hope looked at Clarke. “Anything?”

“Working on it,” He replied, still flipping pages.

The pumpkin man’s green eyes shot open, and he let out another shrill growl. This time some of the pumpkin guts hit them.

Hope wiped the pumpkin from her face. “You’re gonna regret that one.”

When the pumpkin man stood up he staggered, almost falling into a nearby garbage disposal.

“He really is drunk,” Hope remarked.

The pumpkin lashed at her with his arm and she dodged the attack, turning and kicking him hard in the chest, sending him backward a few steps. He cried out again, emitting more of the pumpkin goo.

Hope managed to dodge it this time, but Clarke received another face full.

“ _Mittent_ ,” Hope used her magic to pin the pumpkin against the brick wall of the alley but struggled to hold him there. His long limbs lashed out violently as he spewed even more pumpkin guts.

“Now would be a good time for you to tell me how to kill this thing.” She said, as she was hit with more pumpkin, both of her hands still extended toward the creature.

“Okay,” Clarke said. “It says that stingy jack can’t meet a magical end.”

“What does that mean?”

“I think he has to be killed with something non-magical.”

“Non-magical,” Hope said, looking to the large garbage disposal to her left. “Got it.”

She released jack from the spell, and he fell to the ground. Before he had the chance to get up, she had muttered another incantation, now holding the large garbage bin oven his head. She’d grown more powerful the past few years, but the can was still heavy for her.

“Time to hit the road, Jack.” She said, letting the garbage bin fall directly onto the creature’s head.

It landed with a thud.

She turned to Clarke, who was staring at the now smooshed Pumpkin man, looking relieved.

“Why is it that holidays always come early when you’re around?”

He chuckled. “I could ask you the same-”

He was cut off by rustling from under the garbage disposal.

“There is no fucking way,” Hope hissed. “He’s still alive after that.”

The bin jolted once and then settled back down. Then again, more forceful this time.

“It was magical,” Clarke realized, shaking his head. “ _You’re_ magical, which means you can’t kill it.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “Well that’s not good.”

“I have an idea,” Clarke said, tossing her the book. “Keep him busy, I’ll be back.”

She caught the book. “What do you expect me to do with this?”

“I don’t know,” He shrugged, running out of the alley and away. “Throw it at him.” And then he was gone.

Hope took a deep breath, throwing the book over her shoulder and raising her fists.

The garbage disposal shook again, this time tipping over and allowing the pumpkin man to stand up.

Clarke didn’t seem so tall anymore.

“Alright, Halloween,” She beckoned him forward with her hands. “Show me what you got.”

The pumpkin man snarled, lashing forward at her with his arms.

Hope ducked, planting her hands on the ground and whipping her feet around to trip the creature. It hit the ground with a thud, and she stood up, placing her foot firmly on its chest.

The monster grabbed her foot and, before she could react, attempted to take a bite out of her ankle. She cried out as it sank its teeth into her flesh. She threw her opposite foot into the creature’s head.

He released her, allowing her to limp away a few feet and regain her footing. Her ankle was searing. _Good thing pumpkins aren’t acidic_ , she thought, or it might feel even worse.

The pumpkin man stood and cried out again. She was worried it was too strong for her to hold off by herself and was starting to regret not letting Clarke call for backup. She would kill for a vampire to be able to take some of the blow right now.

The pumpkin man sprung back up with a fervour that worsened Hope’s fret.

Just as she prepared to hit him with another spell, she heard a honk from the alleyway opening in front of her.

Clarke stuck his head out of the driver’s side window. He had his truck backed into the opening of the alley a few meters in front of where she and the pumpkin man stood.

“Go high?” He shouted, revving the engine.

Hope nodded, bending her knees. Clarke reversed the truck into the pumpkin monster and Hope leapt into the air, landing on the bed of the truck as it made contact with the creature. It’s head flew off it’s body, landing beside her.

“Did it work?” Clarke asked, emerging from the vehicle.

“Have a look,” Hope nodded toward its body.

They watched as the body dissolved into the same green smoke that had been spewing from its orifices.

“God,” Clarke made a face. “It smells like booze.”

Hope knelt down to pick up the head, which now appeared to be an ordinary jack o lantern. She lifted in over her head and smashed it against the wall.

Clarke raised an eyebrow.

“For good measure.” She shrugged.

“So,” He panted, still out of breath from the excitement. “Still think I can’t help you?”

“Actually,” Hope looked at him. “There is one thing you can do for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank for reading! This is my first time writing any sort of action scene, so I hope it reads okay. I'm getting major Buffy season 5 vibes from the monster and the university aesthetic, it is pleasing to me... This chapter is a little short because it's exam week and my brain is melting, but the next one should be longer.


	4. Begin Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope, Clarke, Stella and Josie figure out how to handle the aftermath of the pumpkin monster, and Hope finally agrees to let Clarke tutor her.

Josie stretched her arms over her head. “I like your room.”

“You know,” Stella rolled over, slipping an arm under her waist. “You say that to me literally every time you come over.”

It was the truth. Three of the room’s walls were painted dark and covered in concert and festival posters going as far back as the 80's, and the fourth one, at the head of the bed was exposed red brick. The queen-sized bed on which they rested was supported by dark wood legs, and laid out on the floor underneath those was a brightly colored rug that Stella told Josie she’d gotten on a trip to Iran in the 90’s.

Josie grinned, tugging on the oversized t-shirt she was wearing. “I like your clothes too.”

“I don’t.” Stella looked down at the shirt and then back up into her eyes, looking unimpressed. “I hate them,” She teased.

“Oh no,” Josie bit her lip. “Should I take them off?”

Stella nodded humorously, grinning back at her. She began tugging at the shirt but stopped suddenly, turning her ear toward the door.

“What?” Josie inquired.

“Ryan’s home,” She said, still listening.

“Are you saying you want me to be quiet?” Josie raised her eyebrows. “Because I honestly don’t think I can promise that.”

“Hush,” Stella laughed. “I hear someone else.”

Josie complied, listening herself. “Hope?” She recognized the voice.

“You don’t think they’re…”

“No way,” Josie shook her head. “It has to be something else.”

“Well,” Stella stood up, grabbing Josie’s pants off the floor and tossing them at her. “Let’s go find out.”

The apartment’s door opened up into the living room and kitchen, with the bathroom at the end of a short hallway and the two bedrooms across the hall from each other. The girls found Hope standing by the door.

“Josie?” Hope was surprised to see her.

“What the hell happened to you?” Stella leaned against the kitchen island.

Hope looked down at herself. Her dress was covered in pumpkin guts and seeds, and there was blood caked to her ankle where the creature had bit her. “A drunken pumpkin monster, if you’ll believe it.”

“Hey,” Clarke greeted Stella and Josie as he emerged from the hallway. He held a towel in his hand. “I told Hope she could shower here.”

He’d already put on a clean white t-shirt, but his hair and pants were still slick with gunk.

“Showing up to the communal showers covered in pumpkin seemed like it might fall outside of the realm of keeping a low profile.” Hope said, taking the towel from him.

“End of the hall,” Clarke gestured toward the bathroom.

“You can use my soap,” Stella offered. “And I can get you some clothes, but they might be a little big.”

“Thanks,” Hope smiled, taking the towel and heading for the end of the hall.

She closed the door and looked at herself in the mirror. Her mascara was streaked halfway down her cheeks, and the bun she’d tied her hair into earlier was now practically non-existent. She pulled the tangled hair elastic out and tried her best to pick out the pumpkin seeds, tossing them into the garbage by the toilet.

After getting rid of her, very sticky, sweater dress she turned the water to the almost warmest setting and stepped into the shower. _Thank god_ , she thought. The hot water felt amazing after the day she’d had. Not only had she partaken in her first monster fight in almost a year, but she also found out she was failing at what was meant to be her top priority; school.

So, she let the shower was away the sticky pumpkin guts and the stress. Taking up stella’s offer on the soap, she also cleaned away the crusty dried blood from her ankle which had now fully healed.

Not that she had thought about it much, but she sort of expected to find a bottle of men’s 5-in-1 or something in the shower. There was none of that here, in fact, she couldn’t really tell what belonged to whom, just that the lavender body wash smelled like Stella. She could thank her werewolf side for that.

 _Except_ , she picked up a pink bottle of shampoo she did recognise. _Josie_ , she thought. How much time had Josie been spending over here with stella the past few weeks? Was she really dating the Clarke’s best friend? Was she really leaving shampoo in _his_ shower?

Was Hope supposed to just forgive him for lying to her on multiple occasions? Was she supposed forgive him for manipulating her best friend? For trying to erase her consciousness and steal her body? She’d only been kind to him because she thought he was dying, leaving forever… hadn’t she?

She turned the water off. It was too much to think about right now. Hell, she still didn’t even have the book she needed to pass her history course.

There was a knock.

“Hey,” Stella said from the other side of the door. “I have clothes for you, if you want them. And a bag for dirty stuff.”

Hope steeped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself.

She opened the door enough for Stella to pass her the clothes. “Thanks.”

The vampire nodded.

Hope closed the door and pulled on the cropped crew neck sweater and grey sweatpants. She felt kind of weird wearing someone else’s clothes without underwear, but there was no way she was putting any of her pumpkin clothes back on. She pulled the drawstring on the pants tight so they stayed put.

When she emerged she saw that Josie, Stella and Clarke were sitting at the high kitchen table, drinking tea.

Clarke nodded to her, getting up. “Okay, I’m going to shower.”

“I think I’m gonna walk home,” Hope said, as soon as he disappeared into the hallway.

“No way,” Josie motioned for her to sit down. “I need to hear more about this drunk monster.”

“Yeah,” Stella added. “He kinda sounds like a good time.” She joked.

“He was not.” Hope sat down and explained everything that happened. She told them about the book, the damage to main street, and the people who may have seen them.

“I’ll go into town tomorrow morning,” Stella said. “I’ll compel the bookstore owner to forget you guys were there and make some townsfolk think an actual drunk man trashed towns square.”

“Let’s pray that nobody has a video,” Josie said, her chin resting in her hand.

“We have a guy for that,” Stella picked up her tea. “Liam. He can take care of the digital file.”

“Isn’t it like, impossible to get a video off the internet?” Josie frowned.

“Without magic, yes.” Stella smiled, “But with magic...”

“He’s a witch?” Hope asked.

Stella nodded. “The only one we’ve got in the group. We could really use some more help on that front.”

“Maybe,” Hope began tentatively, “Some of us could come to a meeting. It would be smart to team up. If there’s going to be more creatures like that showing up, we need to be on top of things.”

It was then that Clarke reappeared, freshly showered and wearing a black sweater and jeans. Much to Hope’s dismay, he was radiating the same scent that had invaded her personal space at the party. It wasn't a bad smell, as much as she hated to admit this to herself, it was actually really good, but it was distracting. She pulled the sleeve of Stella’s sweater over her hand and casually rested it over her nose. It just smelled like tide, _good_.

“We have a meeting Wednesday afternoon.” He offered, clearly having overheard her.

Hope nodded. “We can run it by Lizzie and the boys.”

“Oh, you’re going to bring boys?” Stella laughed. “The girls are going to be _so_ excited. They’ve all tired of this one.” She punched Clarkes shoulder playfully.

He gave her a look that could only be interpreted as _shut the fuck up._

“ _If_ we can get them to agree to come,” Josie said.

“We should also try and figure out who was warning us with that book.” Hope suggested. “Have you ever been warned of a monster like that before?”

“There’s never been a monster before,” Stella answered, confused.

“What do you mean?” Hope furrowed her brow, looking at Clarke. “You said you’d been killing monsters.”

He winced. “Not exactly.”

“We’ve taken care of a few rogue vampires feasting on freshman,” Stella explained. “The occasional handsy frat boy, and we keep the werewolves in check during the full moon.”

Hope sighed. “Great, okay so you guys really do need our help.”

“Some of them are inexperienced,” Clarke said. "But I believe they have a lot of potential to do good,"

Hope nodded, wondering if he was talking about the group or himself. “I should really get going.”

“I can drive you,” Josie said, standing up. “Dad finally brought the car up from Mystic falls.”

“How is that thing still running?” Hope grabbed her bag of dirty clothes.

Josie retrieved her Jacket from the hook by the door. “Literal magic.”

Hope stood by the door somewhat awkwardly as Josie and Stella said goodbye. She didn’t envy what they had necessarily, but she did think it was really sweet. She appreciated that they’d formed their relationship away from Mystic falls, and the Salvatore school. It was a grown up, real thing, based on more than just uncontrollable proximity. She sometimes feared she would never find that.

“Hey, uh,” Hope turned to Clarke. “I think someone _was_ trying to warn us with that book and I don’t think it was the monster you decapitated.”

“ _We_ decapitated,” He corrected her, leaning against the wall. “And I’ll look into it.”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry,” He said, avoiding her eyes.

“For…”

“For,” He sighed. “Err, lying to you about the monster situation.”

She shrugged. “Old habits die hard.”

He smiled, finally meeting her gaze. “Yeah, they do.”

“Besides,” She bit her lip. “You aren’t the only one whose been lying to me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “No?”

She shook head. “I’ve been lying to myself.”

He looked at her, confused.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I do need your help with my History class, I’m just… Not accustomed to not having to do everything on my own.”

“You do realize who you’re talking to, right?”

She smiled. “Yes, the irony of the situation is not lost on me.”

“I’ll help you.” He said. “But I want coffee.”

“Deal,” She chuckled. “You know, you look really funny when you apologize. Like you weren’t programmed for it or something.”

He rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks.”

“It’s like,” She stiffened her body comically. “Does. Not. Compute.”

“Keep it up,” He warned. “I can sabotage your academic life yet.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you for a second.”

“Alright,” Josie linked arms with hope, waving goodbye to Stella. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

* * *

Hope pulled her hair into a ponytail as she trekked through the school’s courtyard. It was her favorite place on campus, a large grass rectangle, with buildings enclosing each side. To her right was the library, a tall old Victorian mass, and to her left was the student union building, a modern anachronism among the similarly Victorian buildings in front of and behind her.

She walked along the cement path that cut through the centre of the courtyard, past the large water fountain in the middle, towards a row of trees that grew by the edge of the library. She was meeting Josie and the gang to pitch them the idea of joining Stella and Clarke’s club. She’d been careful to make sure they met while Landon was in class. She’d been pretty successfully avoiding him all semester, so nobody would think it unusual. She knew that of all the people likely to be open to the idea of working with Clarke, he was even lower on the list than she was.

And then there was Josie, who in Hope’s mind would be poised lower even than her ex-boyfriend. Yet, her connection with Stella had seemed to fog any grudge she still may have held toward Clarke.

“Hey girlie,” Lizzie came up beside Hope, looping her arm through the older girl’s. “Beautiful day, is it not?”

Hope smiled but eyed her suspiciously. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

“The sun is shining,” Lizzie raised her free arm toward the sky, “The birds are chirping, and I am trying desperately to believe all of that.”

“Wait so,” Hope frowned. “It’s not a good day? Or it is? I’m confused.”

“I figured if I was just really enthusiastic about it being a good day, I would believe it but no such luck.” She whined as she dropped Hope’s arm from hers.

Hope sighed. “Tell me what happened.”

“Okay,” Lizzie tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So, you know that door in the student union building?”

“The one you always think is a pull door, but it’s a push door?” Hope recalled.

“Yes,” She said. “Well, I was in a hurry yesterday and I was pulling it and I got really frustrated and then when I realized I was supposed to be pushing I felt _really_ stupid,”

Hope smiled empathetically.

“So,” lizzie looked down, “I used a spell to push it open,”

“Lizzie,” Hope scolded her.

“That’s not even the bad part,” She winced. “It flew open and hit that guy from my communications class.”

“Not the cute one who told you-”

“Told me I sat in gum last week?” She moaned. “Yes, him.”

“Oh, _Lizzie_.”

“So, now I’ve embarrassed myself in front of him, and magically hit him in the face with a door.” She slouched. “And I really liked those pants.”

“So,” Hope pushed her back on track. “Is the guy okay? Are you sure you didn’t concuss him or something?”

“I don’t know,” Lizzie shrugged. “I ran away.”

“Jesus, Lizzie,”

“And now it’s only a matter of time,” She stopped walking, and placed her hands on Hope’s shoulders so they were eye to eye. “Bad things come in _threes_ , Hope. I’m doomed.”

“Okay,” Hope shrugged the hands away. “Don’t panic. Magical thinking isn’t going to help you.”

“Since when is magical thinking a bad thing?”

“It’s a psychological term.” Hope explained. “When we attribute cause to unrelated events.”

“ _Wow_ ,” Lizzie looked at her, dumbfounded. “You have been completely brainwashed by science.”

“I’m not saying there isn’t a magical explanation for a lot of things,” She started walking again, Lizzie following beside her. “But sometimes there isn’t. I think this is one of those times. Just try to relax, and don’t dread another disaster before we know it’s for sure going to come.”

Lizzie huffed as they approached the meeting spot. “Easy for you to say.”

Hope let her have the last word.

Josie sat on the grass across form Kaleb and MG. She had homework on her lap, and a novel open on top of that which, upon Hope’s examination, appeared not to be in English. MG had taken his earphones off and hung them around his neck when he saw them approaching, and Kaleb had his laptop open on his lap. A bag of microwave popcorn and a Ziploc container filled with blueberries rested in the middle of their circle, on top of a folded-up scarf Hope recognized as Josie’s.

Lizzie inspected the ground thoroughly before sitting down.

“I’m checking for ants,” She said, noting everyone staring at her. “They’re _everywhere_.”

“You’ve literally coughed up bugs. You’ve fought an Arachne, for God’s sake,” Hope sat down beside her. “And you’re worried about a couple of ants crawling on your leg?”

“Ants are different,” She shuddered. “They’re so…”

“Tiny?” MG offered.

Josie laughed. “Harmless?”

“Conniving!” Lizzie snapped, before turning to Hope. “I still think the eating bugs thing was your fault, by the way.”

Hope sighed, raising her hands in defeat.

“So,” Josie cleared her throat. “I can imagine you’re all wondering why we brought you here today,”

MG frowned. “Brought us here?”

“I thought we were just going to study,” Kaleb said plainly.

“Okay,” Josie sighed. “Yes, but there is something that Hope and I need to talk to you guys about.”

“Is this about the me and MG thing?” Lizzie asked. “Because it really only happens when we’re drunk, or if we’re, like, really tired, or if I watch Pride and Prejudice or-”

“Lizzie!” MG hit her with a blueberry. “Stop.”

"The one with Keira Knightley?" Kaleb asked Lizzie.

" _Obviously_ ," She replied.

“Okay, not,” Hope raised her hand. “That you two don’t need an intervention, because you definitely do, but this is something different.”

“Okay fine,” Lizzie folded her lands on her lap. “I’ll listen.”

“Hope and I are going to join a club” Josie began. “And we’re hoping you guys will join as well.”

“What kind of a club?” Kaleb inquired.

“It’s a group for magical creatures on campus.” Hope explained. “They keep an eye on things, help out the werewolves and vamps who attend the school when they can.”

“So, I’m guessing this is a _Stella_ affiliated group?” Lizzie asked.

“It is.” Josie nodded.

Lizzie was already drunk at the party by the time Josie had gotten acquainted to Stella, but her distaste for the vampire was immediate once she did find out about them. She was also pretty clear about _why_ it was she didn’t like Stella.

“I’m guessing that also means her BFF Clarke is going to be there too?”

“Lizzie,” Josie began.

“I’m supposed to be the crazy one,” Lizze said. “So why are you guys acting completely insane? Josie, _how_ are you okay with this?”

“Lizzie,” Josie repeated.

“How do you know he isn’t just trying to get in your head again?” Lizzie turned to Hope. “Or yours? How can you be okay with this?”

“We’ve been talking to them, Lizzie.”

“Why?” She asked, seriously. “Josie shouldn’t be anywhere near either of them.”

“God, why are you acting like I’m made of glass all of a sudden?” Josie snapped.

“I’m not,” Lizzie sputtered.

“Yes, you are. You’re acting like seeing Clarke was going to bring dark Josie back or something,” Josie said. “It’s been years. I’ve changed, you’ve changed, and as much as you don’t want to admit it, he’s changed too.”

“According to whom?” Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Stella?”

Josie ground her teeth. “ _What_ is your problem with Stella?”

“What’s my _problem_ with her?” She leaned forward. “My problem is that she’s best friends with manipulative homicidal maniac, Josie.”

“Lizzie,” Hope interjected. “You know for a fact that if we blacklisted everyone who was homicidal at one point or another, you’d have nobody left to call your friends.”

“Man,” Kaleb shook his head. “That is bleak.”

“But it’s true,” Josie looked down fiddling with the pages of her book.

“This is serious Lizzie, okay? We saw a monster in town yesterday.” Hope said. “Clarke and I killed it but-”

“I’m sorry,” Lizzie interjected. “You and Clarke? What were you doing in town with Clarke?”

“I ran into him at the bookstore, but that’s really not the point.”

Lizzie scoffed. “You don’t find that suspicious?”

“I did at first,” Hope said. “But, like I said, we’ve been talking. Trust me, all the conclusions you’re jumping to I’ve already thought about. I understand that this is a big deal, and I’m treating it as such.”

Lizzie huffed. “God, you’re such a mediator.”

Hope knew Lizzie, and a soft insult like that usually meant she was coming around.

Hope frowned. “We really need your help figuring all this out.”

Lizzie took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. When she was done, she smiled, turning to her sister. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m feeling a little extra protective since you’ve been spending all this time with Stella and maybe I feel a _little_ left out.”

“Well,” Josie smiled back. “This is me telling you that I want you to be included.”

Lizzie chewed her lip for a moment. “Okay, I’m in but… _tentatively_.”

“Good,” Josie grabbed her sister’s hand. “You’re-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lizzie rolled her eyes, squeezing Josie’s hand back. “I’m amazing, I’m forgiving, I’m understanding, save it.”

“The meeting is this Wednesday,” Hope explained. “Can I count on you guys being there?”

MG nodded.

“I’m pretty busy right now, but I’ll try and make it.” Kaleb said.

“Busy with what?” Josie asked.

“Student council?” He looked at her, furrowing his brows. “You guys really don’t pay any attention to me, do you? You know, I’ve been on student council all year and you haven’t come to a single event.”

“I… pay attention to you.” Josie frowned.

“Is that what you’ve been doing on your computer all this time,” Lizzie leaned around to look at his screen. “Planning an event?”

“Yes,” He closed the laptop. “But this is top secret. It’s the answer key for trivia night.”

“I love trivia.” Lizzie placed a hand on her chest. “We’ll come to this one.”

“Yeah, well it’s no witches allowed.” He said. “It’s way too easy for y’all to cheat.”

“There’s no way that’s an actual rule.” She scoffed.

He gave her a stern look. “It’s my rule.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Please let us come.” Josie pouted, leaning over MG, forcing Kaleb to look at her face. “I promise we won’t cheat. Pleeeeeeeeeeease,”

Kaleb sighed, fanning her away. “Fine.”

“Good,” Josie smiled, victorious. “Hope, are you in?”

“I can’t,” She shook her head. “Tutoring, remember? Speaking of…”

Hope took her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. It was 3:15, which meant she was going to be late meeting Clarke at the library.

“I’m late,” She stood up, grabbing her things

* * *

“Clearly they didn’t teach you teleportation in magic school,” Clarke looked up from his computer. “Or else you would have gotten here on time.”

Hope sighed, setting her backpack on the table where he sat and fell into the chair across from him. “They must’ve covered it during the summer I spent being tortured in an endless pit of darkness.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Touché.” 

He was wearing a dark crew neck sweater with the university's logo stitched in blue over his chest and jeans. He had dark circles under his eyes, and she could see the reflection of his computer screen in his horn rimmed glasses. She watched the reflection as he closed whatever web page he had open and took the glasses off to rub his eyes. 

"I forgot your coffee," Hope winced, pulling her computer from her bag and setting it down in front of her. 

"Its okay," He sighed. "I'll live."

"But, will you stay awake?" She asked. "Humans need a lot of sleep, you know."

"Yeah, I figured that one out pretty quick. Oh, I’ve got your book here,” He leaned down and rummaged through the bag on the floor beside his chair. “Somewhere…”

The school’s library was quite big, with six floors in total. Hope thought it was pretty, but also a bit much for such a small university. While the upper floors were all quiet areas, the first floor where they now sat had no such rules. It was a large study area with large and small tables, computers, and no books or librarian’s desk. She and the gang had ordered pizza while loudly studying, and a few times even sipped vodka from stainless steel water bottles, likely not as subtly as they’d thought. It was lawless territory.

“Here it is,” He produced a small, battered looking book and laid it on the table. “It took some digging, but I finally found it on the fourth floor.”

“Thank you,” Hope grinned, taking the book in her hands. “Seriously.”

He smiled grimly. “If you knew how many couples, I ran into who we’re getting it on in the stacks you would be more thankful.”

Hope dropped the book, offering a sympathetic look. “Yikes.”

“It’s fine,” He said. “Not my first rodeo.”

“Look at you, using human expressions,” She picked the book back up and turned it over, examining the back. “I’m impressed.”

“You’ll be more impressed when I tell you,” He poked the book in her hands. “I’ve already read it.”

“Which means… I don’t have to?”

“Nice try.”

Hope rested her chin on her hand. “So, what are we doing today if I haven’t even read the book yet? My time seems a bit more precious now that I know half the town may have seen me curb stomp a supernatural creature last week.”

“You focus on school,” He looked at her calmly. “And let me handle the cover up, okay? That’s my superpower.”

 _Funny_ , she thought.

Hope nodded, too stressed out to question why she was trusting him to do anything. She was so tired from catching up in history, keeping up with all her other classes _and_ worrying about the monster situation. She was more than happy to let him take this one.

Clarke got her to show him the outline for her next midterm and they began to go through it together. He clarified the parts she was confused about and explained the things she didn’t yet know. She found almost everything simple to understand, albeit boring, but certain things were more difficult for her to wrap her head around than others.

“So, there were three Popes,” Hope squinted her eyes. “At the same time?”

“Yes,” He smiled fondly. “Pure, unadulterated chaos.”

“Ugh,” She ran her fingers through her hair wearily. “I think this might have broken me.”

“It’s honestly not surprising when you think about how easily people are manipulated by religion, especially back then.” He said. "It was almost inevitable."

“How do you know?” She crossed her arms. “Were you like there or something?”

He blinked. “Was I _there_?”

She nodded plainly.

“You’re asking me if I was alive in 1400’s?”

“I am,”

“Hope, that would make me over 600 years old.”

She shrugged. “I’ve met older guys.”

He shook his head, smiling, and turned his eyes back to the computer screen. “I was not there.”

“But you were around back then?”

“Why do you care so much?”

Hope pondered that.

“I’m just, bored.” She said dismissively. “We’ve been at this for almost two hours.”

“We can finish up.”

“Cool,” Hope closed her computer. “Thanks for this.”

“No problem,” He said. “I was not around in the 1400’s, by the way.”

She nodded, and they were both silent for a moment.

“Do you really think you’re human?”

Clarke’s eyes darkened as he let out a long breath.

“I know that I’m different.” He said. “But, I haven’t died yet, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“It wasn’t,” She said.

“So…” he smirked. “You’re asking if I can procreate now?”

“No,” Hope attempted to hide the sudden flush in her cheeks behind a scowl.

“Just making sure.” He laughed. “By the way, the answer to both of those questions is that I don’t know.”

“I was trying to ask,” She searched for the words. “If you _feel_ different.”

“I feel better,” Clarke sighed thoughtfully. “At least, sometimes I do. Other times I feel worse. I feel some things I never had before.”

“Like what?”

He looked at her, opening his mouth to speak but thinking better of it.

“Come on,” She tilted her head.

“You know, you’re a lot nosier than I remember.”

“You just didn’t spend enough time with me.”

“I would argue the opposite.” He chuckled, thinking carefully before speaking again. “The way I lived before, it was like the dial was turned down to 50 percent and now it’s on 100. Everything I feel is heightened; happiness, sadness, anger, fear,” He looked down. “Desire…”

Hope felt her cheeks grow hot again.

“But, more importantly.” He said, his tone becoming less serious. “Food tastes better.”

“You should know,” Hope said tentatively. “When your father set the necromancer free for returning the knife, he was human too.”

Clarke furrowed his eyebrows. “But,”

“But,” Hope continued. “He found a way to become a monster again. Chad explained it to us.”

“Who is Chad?”

Hope shook her head. “Not important. What _is_ important is that the necromancer was not as human as he thought he was.”

Clarke nodded, understanding. “Meaning I may not be either.”

“I just thought you should know.”

He frowned.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” He smiled wryly. “You didn’t tell me anything I hadn’t already suspected.”

“Okay,” She said, placing her laptop and the book in her bag. “They said yes, by the way. Lizzie and the boys.”

“Oh,” He said, still distracted. “That can’t have been easy.”

“Lizzie was the hardest to convince, if you can believe it.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

Hope stood up. “Wish me luck with the reading.”

“Godspeed.” He said, then called after her as she walked away. "You still owe me coffee!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This chapter gave me trouble for some reason, but I am so excited for what I have planned for the next one :)


	5. gold rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Lizzie attend a group meeting and an... afterparty? But, when one of their new acquaintances becomes jealous of Hope a magical solution is required.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scenes from Clarke's perspective refer to him as Ryan, from Hope's perspective he is referred to as Clarke.

Chapter 5: gold rush

Ryan found being human to be exhausting. If he really was human. After Hope shared with him the info she’d gotten from Chad about the Necromancer, he felt much less certain about it. The way he saw it now, there were three options.

Option one was that he was still a Golem, a word that he felt notably differently about since Stella had showed him Lord of The Rings, and that he was just in some super stable, completely unclockable human-like form. A form that came with heightened emotional awareness and potentially greater empathetic abilities.

Option two, which he now thought to be perhaps the wildest theory, was that he was a human. Fully and completely. Him being able to kill the pumpkin monster with his truck proved that. Right?

The third option, and the one which seemed increasingly more likely was that in his father’s final moments, all of the remaining power he had went into giving Ryan the same chance the Necromancer was given- to live a normal life. This would mean however, that he was only a human on paper. If the Necromancer was able to make himself a monster again that meant Ryan would likely be able to do the same.

He’d pondered it. Specifically, what it would take. Would he have to kill himself? Die? Would he resurrect? Eat some dirt? He honestly had no clue. He also pondered what it would mean. He’d felt a real change upon coming back to life the last time. Being human, or whatever the hell he was, was different than when he was a Gollum. His life was heightened, along with all his senses. It was like he was experiencing a cheap knockoff version of humanity before, eating but never really tasting food, hearing music, but never truly listening to it. Everything was different.

The emotions were the worst, or the best, depending on how you looked at it. He tended to swing either way. Most of them were manageable, but others came with a lot of baggage. He quickly learned that those were the ones that could get him into the most trouble.

Of all the things to test his new human emotions, seeing Hope Mikaelson again trounced anything else. Just thinking about her made his stomach hurt, like it was filled with magnets, begging him to pull toward her.

He needed to be better at hiding it. Stella knew already, as she did most things about him. As the closest member of his chosen family (her words, not his), she was able to tell after the party that something in him had changed. He was, as she had put it, “down bad,” for Hope.

“Earth to Ryan,” A hand was suddenly waving in front of his face.

“Ryan to earth,” He responded, irritated that someone had interrupted his thinking. The group meeting wasn’t supposed to start for another ten minutes and he had a lot on his mind. “What do you want, Vi?”

“Okay first of all,” Violet tossed her dark hair back over her narrow shoulder. “You forfeited the right to call me that when you stopped responding to my ‘u up?’ texts,”

He winced. She was right.

“And second of all, there’s some _girl_ at the door who wants to see you.”

He perked up, turning toward the door to the fourth-floor seminar room they occupied. There was Hope, standing in the doorframe, one arm crossed and the other beckoning him to her urgently.

He attempted to hide his excitement as he made his way over to her. The closer her got, the better he was able to make out her dark expression.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, as he greeted her at the door.

“It’s Lizzie,” Hope pointed to the girl, who sat on a bench in the hallway, her head in her hands.

Hope looked tired.

“She won’t come in because,”

“Don’t tell _him_!” Lizzie had removed her head form her hands.

Hope let out what may have been the heaviest sigh Ryan had witnessed to date, before pushing him back into the room and shutting the door behind them. Her high ponytail swung back and forth as she did so. Her hair was long enough that it still rested on her shoulders, sticking to spots on her top. The red wrap sweater she wore matched her lipstick and the deep neckline drew his eyes to the necklaces she always wore layered over each other. He recognized them from when they’d first met. He had spent months looking at them after all.

“Hey!” Lizzie shouted. Her voice was muffled through the door.

This gained them a few odd looks from his friends, but Hope didn’t seem to care.

“Lizzie,” Hope began quietly, so only they could hear. “Has met your friend Liam before,”

“You mean,” Ryan furrowed his eyebrows, looking over at Liam who sat on the other side of the room, frowning at his computer screen. “They… hooked up or something?”

“You would think, but no,” Hope laughed. “She hit him in the face with a door,”

“Oh,” He said. “Right, okay.”

“Yeah, so I don’t think she’s going to come in unless we can convince her otherwise.

 _We_? It was Ryan’s turn to sigh. He didn’t really care if Lizzie came to the meeting, all he really cared about was having Hope and Josie there. He didn’t see how Lizzie would be any help to them, especially seeing as she was still prone to the same behavior she struggled with as a teenager. She was clearly more trouble than she was worth.

If Hope knew he felt that way, he doubted she would be willing to help them at all. The three of them came as a package deal, whether he liked it or not.

“Okay,” He said. “I’ll try.”

“Oh good,” Lizzie droned sarcastically as Ryan came through the door. “I’m having a crisis and you bring this clown to help me.”

“Look,” He said. “I know you’re embarrassed about seeing Liam but that’s… really stupid.”

Hope gave him a look, shaking her head.

“I mean,” He started again. “It’s stupid because he’s stupid.”

Lizzie sniffled. “Really?”

“Yes,” Ryan responded truthfully.

Liam was kind of a jerk, he’d experienced first-hand. They guy didn’t seem to care about other people’s feelings, and only ever thought about himself. He almost reminded Ryan of himself at one point, but without the motive. Liam was an asshole just for the hell of it. 

“He gets computers, and magic, but not people. If anything, hitting him with a door may have knocked some sense into him,”

“You told him about that?” Lizzie glared at Hope.

“Look,” Ryan sighed. “Liam is so consumed with himself I doubt he’ll even recognize you. So, how about we go back in there and pretend none of this ever happened.”

He felt like a fucking high school guidance councillor. Without the paycheque.

“Okay,” Lizzie nodded, flattening her hair. “See you on the other side, Gloop.”

“Gloop?” He looked at Hope, confused.

“She googled synonyms for mud on the way here.”

Ryan rubbed his forehead. He didn’t expect this situation to give him a headache. He should have known better.

* * *

Hope stood at the back of the room by the door with her arms folded, half-listening to Lizzie whispering to her. She wanted to pay attention, but she was distracted.

He was acting so… normal. It was in the way he moved around, talking to people, making check marks on his clip board, smiling. She shouldn’t have been too surprised really; she knew he’d spent a lot of time working undercover for Triad. He knew how to act normal, she just never thought she’d see him do it without an ulterior motive.

Not that she was one hundred percent sure he didn’t have an ulterior motive. She was partly sure his intentions were good, but part of her was still suspicious.

She’d gotten used to trusting people in little parts over the years. It proved to be more sustainable than not trusting them at all, and she’d grown out of trusting people wholeheartedly at a very young age.

She could count on one hand the people she really truly believed in, and even they could become compromised. Her closest friends had all been possessed, impersonated, or murderous at one point or another.

So, she could allow herself to trust pieces of Clarke. For now.

“Are you even listening?” Lizzie asked, following Hope’s eyeline.

“Yes,” She lied, moving her eyes back to her friend.

Lizzie squinted. “You wouldn’t happen to be acquiring a taste for the creature from the mire, would you?”

“Who, Clarke?” Hope scowled, perhaps a little too quickly. “Don’t be gross,”

“Hey, if dark broody sons of mud creatures are your type, that is your business,” She nudged Hope playfully. “I won’t judge you for keeping it in the family,”

“Okay, I _just_ said don’t be gross.”

“It wasn’t enough for you to just have Landon, you need the full set.”

“Lizzie,” Hope warned. “If you don’t stop I swear-”

“What are you guys talking about?” Josie appeared through the door, with Stella in tow.

MG followed behind them, his face glued to his phone.

Hope, despite not being easily startled, yelped.

“Nothing.” She responded quickly.

“Boys.” Lizzie said at the same time.

“What’s with MG?” Hope inquired.

Josie shrugged. “I don’t know, I think he’s talking to some girl.”

“Hm,” Lizzie frowned. “Must be nice to have constant attention.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” Josie whispered.

Hope nodded in agreement.

Stella offered to introduce them to everyone then, stating that it would keep her from having to do any real work.

She led them through the large seminar room, around the large rectangular table in the centre at which most people were already sitting or standing around.

The first person she introduced them to was Nari, a second-year werewolf girl from Korea. She had long hair with blonde highlights and wore a school rugby jersey under an oversized denim jacket.

Next, Sarah, a short blonde vampire offered them homemade cookies. Stella explained how she’d been turned a few years ago at a frat party and they had to keep her from eating half the school football team.

“They’re already _so_ bad,” Stella said. “They really can’t afford to lose any players, otherwise I’d have been totally okay with it.”

Last but not least was Violet, a willowy girl with dark hair and bright green eyes. She had pointed but beautiful features, and a mischievous brow line.

“Hello,” She extended her hand to Hope immediately, a glint in her eye.

“Hey,” Stella slapped the hand away. “Nice try, Ursula.”

Violet made a face at her.

“She’s a siren,” Stella explained. “A very nosy Siren who wants to read your mind.” She added pointedly.

“But,” Hope frowned. “I thought there weren’t any more sirens,”

Sirens were psychics who made a deal with the ruler of hell to gain immortality, but there were only supposed to have been two and they were both dead now. There couldn’t have been another unless…

“Were you trapped in Malivore?” Hope asked.

“Sure was,” Violet nodded. “For a couple hundred years actually. It’s a fun way to find out you’re more monster than witch.”

Hope shook her head. “I can’t even imagine-”

“No,” Violet cut her off. “You couldn’t.”

“Actually, I was-”

“I’ve got things to prep still so, if you’ll excuse me,” Violet smiled, turning off in the other direction before the conversation could go further.

Hope snorted. “What her problem?”

“She’s an old hag,” Stella rolled her eyes. “But she knows a lot about magic and she’s a biology major which I think is hilarious.”

Hope and Lizzie stared at her.

“Because she’s like,” Stella looked at them expectantly. “Really old? Like before people believed in science?”

Josie rubber her arm sympathetically.

“Tough crowd.”

They skipped over Liam, as he appeared to be deep in concentration, his eyes still locked on his computer screen. He didn’t like to be bothered when he was coding Stella explained, rolling her eyes. He was working on cleaning the internet of any mention of the incident that occurred with the monster in town.

Stella helped them find seats at the long table in the center of the room, and Hope sat herself in between Josie and Nari.

The meeting began with Violet reading the notes from their previous gathering. According to her they met up once a month before the full moon in order to make arrangements for the werewolves on campus. Nari was the only werewolf member, but a few attended the school, they just weren’t interested in involving themselves with magic outside of necessity.

Violet sat atop the table as she went over the notes, one leg pulled under her, showing off her black heeled boots. She was quite stunning; Hope had no doubts about that. Her green eyes popped against her tan complexion and her black hair fell in straight pleats over her shoulders. She was very thin, but strong looking with a mature and intimidating nature about her.

Despite the girl’s undeniable beauty, the notes were boring, and Hope found her mind drifting off.

“Hope?” Violet asked.

She snapped herself back. “Yes?”

“Can you and Ryan give us a rundown of what happened in town?”

Hope nodded, and they launched into the story, sparing no detail. Violet listened along closely, and as much as Hope hated to admit it, made some helpful observations.

“Why were you at the bookstore?” She inquired.

“I went to pick up a book for my history class.”

“And you?” She turned to Clarke.

“Dr. Rivas sent me looking for a book for my thesis.”

“She sent you there too?” Hope asked.

He nodded.

“That’s pretty suspicious if you ask me.” Violet observed.

Hope turned to Clarke. “Do you think she could be the one who warned us with the book, too?”

“Maybe.”

“Or maybe,” Violet leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “She sent you into a trap.”

“Okay,” Clarke shifted in his seat. “Even if Dr. Rivas suddenly did have some sort of ulterior motive against us, why is she only acting on it now? She’s been advising my thesis for over a year.”

“It’s Hope,” Josie chimed in. “It has to be.”

“Why Hope?” Violet asked.

“It’s kind of _always_ Hope,” Lizzie explained.

“Not always,” Hope protested.

The twins both gave her a look.

Hope sighed, tired. “Yeah, it kind of is.”

“Well,” Violet clasped her hands together. “ _Whoever_ she’s here for, we need to take care of her. We can’t afford another slip up like you two had in town,”

“Slip up?” Hope scoffed. “I saved half the town from that thing,”

“Actually I-”

“Clarke,” Hope raised her hand to silence him. “I am perfectly capable of handling whatever this is.”

“ _We_ ,” Josie corrected her.

“Right,” Hope stuttered. “Yeah, _we_ are completely capable.”

“Nice save.”

"Hold on, " Hope smiled. "If Dr. Rivas is a monster, that means I might not actually be failing. Maybe she's just trying to get close to me and this was the easiest way!"

“I mean,” Josie squinted. "It's definitely...possible."

Clarke made an uncomfortable noise in disagreement.

Hope slouched in her seat. “Gee, thanks guys.”

"Look," Clarke said. "Whether or not she is the next monster we need to be careful about how we approach this. She can't know we're on to her."

"Hell no. We need to go in all, pew pew pew” Nari made finger guns. “Hands up monster lady, you're coming with us."

"Right," Stella added sarcastically. "We'll just storm her office, take her hostage, and figure out the rest when we get to it."

"Hell yeah," Nari shrugged. "We can wing it."

“No,” Clarke stood up. “We are not going to _wing it_ , okay. Trust me, I know monsters better than anyone, and we need to have a plan.”

Violet raised an eyebrow. “What makes you the monster expert?"

“Well, I was _literally_ eating them at one point so,”

“Wait,” MG finally looked up from his cellphone. “Actually?”

“No,” Josie scoffed. “He was obviously being facetious,”

Clarke frowned.

“Oh my god,” Josie said. “Uh, sorry?”

“Dude, I hate it when you bring this up,” Stella raised her hand to her face, shaking her head. “It is _so_ nasty.”

“You drink blood, Stella!” Clarke sat back down, frustrated.

“It’s _different_ , Ryan!”

“What did they taste like?” MG looked seriously at Clarke, who let out a sigh of regret.

“Okay,” Violet interrupted. “We’re going to move on now.”

The ended up deciding on having Clarke and Hope meet with Dr Rivas, to try and see if she truly did have any motives beyond grading papers. They wrapped up the meeting fairly quickly after that.

“Do you guys want to come over for drinks?” Stella asked Lizzie and Hope. “We’re all gonna try Ryan’s nasty smelling mulled wine.”

“It smells amazing!” Clarke shouted from across the room.

“It’s on his human to do list.” She continued.

“What’s a human to do list?” Lizzie inquired.

“It’ like a bucket list of all the human things he wants to try.” She explained. “You know, get your driver’s licence, just a bunch of boring people stuff.”

“And where on that list is ‘see a therapist’?” Lizzie interjected.

“That’s funny,” Stella pointed to Lizzie. “You’re funny.”

“Oh,” Lizzie smiled proudly. “I’ve been telling Hope and Josie that for years.”

They both laughed again.

“So, you guys are coming?” Josie asked hopefully.

“Uh,” Hope tilted her head. “I’m not sure.”

“Please,” Josie said. “I’d really like having you guys there.”

“Right,” Lizzie clasped her hands together. “It’s just that every part of it sounds unappealing.”

“Oh, come on,” Stella moved her hands to her hips.

“Fine,” She sighed. “We’ll come.”

“We?” Hope asked.

Lizzie elbowed Hope, who elbowed her back immediately.

“I’m not going if you’re not going.” Lizzie whispered to her out of the corner of her mouth.

“Well then I guess neither of us are.”

“Well, I just promised to go so-”

“You do realize,” Stella furrowed her brow. “We can all hear you, right?”

* * *

No less than an hour later Hope found herself stuffed in the corner of Stella and Clarke’s kitchen, with a cup of extremely questionable smelling liquid in her hand.

“I can’t drink this,” Lizzie whispered to her. “I just don’t think my body could take it. My insides are so un-mulled it just wouldn’t be right.”

She wasn’t the only one hesitant to drink their wine. Hope had watched Clarke try a sip out of the corner of her eye a few minutes ago and the colour that drained from his already pale face had yet to return.

“That’s it!” Stella announced, sliding off of the counter and approaching the fridge. “This is unbearable, we’re drinking beer.”

Clarke didn’t protest, just frowned into his full cup and sat it down disappointedly.

“Remember buddy,” Stella cupped a hand on his shoulder as she twisted the top off the bottle and passed it to him. “Failing at something is the most human activity of all.”

He simply shrugged and clinked his bottle against hers.

Hope took a beer from Stella. Lizzie declined one, stating that beer tasted like food and drinks were not supposed to taste like food.

“Hot chocolate tastes like food,” Hope pointed out.

“I am not having this argument with you again.”

The next hour went by semi-painlessly for Hope. Lizzie eventually dispersed to socialize while she hung back with Josie and Nari, making small talk about school, the upcoming thanksgiving break, and Nari’s involvement on the rugby team.

“It’s fun,” She explained. “I definitely enjoy the team aspect to it. But I can’t really go all out without worrying that I’ll accidentally break someone’s spine so, there’s that.”

Hope was happy to have another werewolf girl around, especially Nari who wasn’t nosy about Hope’s tribrid identity. Nari knew Hope was a wolf, these things were obvious, and had been told she was a witch, but didn’t pry into how that was possible.

When Josie slid off of her position atop the kitchen counter to go help Stella turn on the TV, which apparently she and Clarke were still both unable to figure out, the person who slid into her spot beside Hope was not as respecting of her privacy.

“Hey girl,” Violet smiled, crossing her legs so they almost brushed against Hope’s. “What’s up,”

“Not much,” She smiled as sweetly as she could manage. Hope wasn’t sure how much contact Violet needed to read her mind, but considering she’d attempted to do it earlier already she was on the defense.

“You know I’ve been thinking, and it is just _so_ crazy how you guys have all this history with Ryan from when you were just little teenagers, and that you had no idea he was in this town when you moved here.” Violet shook her head. “It’s just so wild.”

Hope nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the way she said ‘teenagers’ as if it was the word ‘babies’.

“Yep, pretty crazy,” She raised the bottle to her lips, praying the conversation would grow too boring for Violet and fizzle out.

“So, you all must think of him in kind of a fatherly way, huh?”

Hope choked on her beer. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, you know,” Violet leaned closer to her. “Because of the whole, him impersonating your school’s headmaster thing. He’s like an older mentor type figure.”

“How did you know that he-”

“Lizzie told me,”

“Of course, she did.” Hope sighed. “Well, I actually wasn’t at the school at the time, so-”

“Where were you?”

She really spared no time in thinking of follow up questions. Why was the girl who wanted nothing to do with her earlier suddenly so interested in her backstory?

“It’s complicated,” Hope started. “I sort of got erased from the collective conscious and everyone forgot who I was for a little while.”

“Malivore,” Violet realized. “So, Ryan didn’t know who you were, then?”

Either Violet found this information to be extremely riveting, or she feigned interest _very_ well.

“Well,” Hope was certain she was giving the girl far more information that she should, but she didn’t see any close way out of the conversation. “Timeline wise, we were both trapped in Malivore before he arrived at the school and we both left around the same time,”

“You were both in there at the same time,”

“Yes we were sort of… in there together,”

“Sort of?”

“No,” Hope shifted the beer bottle in her hands nervously. “We _were_ in there together. Things got shifted a bit when I arrived because… of a spell.” She lied. She _really_ didn’t want to explain the whole tribrid thing to anyone yet. She would, she just needed time.

She hadn’t thought about being in Malivore for a long time. At least not the second time. Even after she saw Clarke again, it seemed more like a dream than a reality. Time passed by so differently there than it did in the outside world.

“Wow,” Violet scooted even closer to Hope. “How long we’re you in there?”

“For most of the summer, I guess.” Hope attempted to move away from the girl but realized she didn’t have much further to go unless she wanted to be sitting in the kitchen sink. “It definitely felt like longer.”

“So, you two just walked around for months alone together.” Violet blinked.

Hope raised the beer in her hands to her mouth, smiling nervously. “You make it sound about as boring as it was.”

“How did you two get out?”

“Well,” Hope frowned. “I sort of, left him there… Then he brainwashed Josie and tried to steal my body, it’s pretty complicated I don’t really know if I want to get into it tonight.”

Hope wasn’t sure why she thought any of those details would bore Violet, and they clearly were not. She only looked more intrigued, her green eyes widening at every word Hope spoke. Hope needed an out.

“Speak of the devil,” She blurted, as Clarke entered the kitchen.

He looked up from where he had begun rummaging in the fridge, holding the necks of three bottles of beer in one of his large hands effortlessly, as if they were toothpicks between his fingers.

“I have a question to ask you,” She lied. “About history,”

“Okay,” He set all three of the bottles on the counter across from them and began rummaging in the cutlery drawer. “What do you need to know?”

He produced a bottle opener and began trying to use it to remove the caps.

Hope watched him struggle for a moment before grabbing the bottle and twisting the top off with her hand and passing it back to him.

“Thanks,” He tossed the bottle opener into the sink. “I can’t figure that thing out.”

“Anyway,” He turned back to Hope, smiling. “What’s your question,”

“Can we talk… privately?” She attempted to communicate her urgency with her eyes.

“You have a,” He smirked. “ _Private_ history question?”

“Clarke,” She warned.

“Okay,” He complied. “Come on,” He gestured for her to follow him out of the kitchen.

“Don’t be gone too long,” Violet shouted after them. “Hope and I were having the loveliest chat.”

He led her down the hall and through a door. Once it closed behind them the noise from the gathering had partly subsided. 

He looked at her expectantly. His eyes, almost completely black in the dim light, were void of any diversion.

“Why is Violet asking me so many questions about where I met you?”

“Oh,” His face relaxed. “I’m not sure,”

He seemed surprised. Hope wondered if he had something different in mind when she asked to speak with him alone. To demonstrate one of his aforementioned ‘skills’ perhaps? _God,_ she thought _, what is wrong with you?_ she quickly pushed the thought away.

“Well,” He thought a minute before continuing. “Violet and I did sort of date. I mean, not really but we… it doesn’t matter. I guess maybe that has something to do with it.”

He wasn’t looking at her anymore, just the floor.

“Oh,” Hope suddenly found it difficult to swallow. “But what would any of that have to do with me?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “You and I spend lot of time together, maybe she’s jealous.”

“You think she’s jealous?”

He shrugged again, more pronounced this time.

“You really think a lot of yourself, don’t you?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Well, either way you need to set her straight.” Hope snapped. “I don’t people thinking that we’re… whatever. Just tell her that this,” She gestured between them. “Isn’t a thing.”

“What? No,” He half-shouted. “I hate talking to Violet, she makes me sweaty. Which, was not a thing that happened to me before I was human, FYI.”

“Are you serious?” Hope scowled. “You _just_ told me you two were… _close_. Stop being a baby and talk to her.”

“Hope, today has not been a breeze for me, okay? I spent four hours grading papers on the Byzantine Empire this morning, all of which we’re written by students who have no idea what that is. I had to give six F’s.” He flopped himself down into his desk chair, rubbing his forehead.

It was then when she realized where they were. This was his bedroom.

She scanned the space quickly. It was relatively bare and warm toned. The ceiling light was off, leaving the room to be lit only by a small lamp atop the dark wood desk at which he sat. A double bed with a blue comforter was wedged in the corner, a few posters she didn’t recognize hanging above it. He didn’t appear to have many things, or if he did, they were tucked away behind the small closet door or in the drawers of the tall wardrobe the lay against the wall furthest from her.

“Fine,” Hope raised her hands. “I get that you’re stressed, but tonight has not been fun for me either, okay? Violet just asked me if I thought of you as a father figure.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh no,”

“Oh _yes_ ,” Hope said.

“That is concerning, and disturbing, and _very_ specifically catered to make both of us uncomfortable.” His eyes widened. “She’s evil.”

“Yeah, no shit. That’s why you need to talk to her.”

“No,” He shook his head. “She’s doing it to get under my skin, if I talk to her, she’ll just know it’s working.”

“So, she’s manipulative.” Hope realized. “Huh,”

“What?”

“I think I know who we can ask for help.”

Clarke raised an eyebrow.

* * *

“Fine,” Lizzie sighed. “I’ll help you, but only because I have a genius plan. I’m going to need something that belongs to her, and a glass of wine.”

“I’m sure I have something that belongs to her,” Clarke said, “There’s a bottle of wine in the fridge.” He told Hope before disappearing into the hall.

“Okay,” Lizzie took the wine glass from Hope, and held her free hand out to Clarke when they returned.

He carefully placed a small stud earring in her hand.

“This is beautiful,” Lizzie examined the small opal stud. “You’d think she’d want it back.”

“It uh,” Clarke rubbed the back of his neck. “Hasn’t been here long.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Can we just do the spell?”

“Okay,” Lizzie eyed her, smiling.

The blonde girl shut her eyes, closing her hand around the stud. She began muttering something in Latin, Hope only recognized the words for ‘fake’ and ‘illusion’.

“Alright,” She opened her eyes and turned to Hope. “Your hand now, my lady.”

Hope placed her hand on top of Lizzie’s, so the stud earring was wedged between them.

Lizzie uttered another short incantation and Hope’s hand glowed

“All done,” She smiled tossing the earring back to Clarke.

He bent backwards, barely catching it.

“Nice catch, champ,” She taunted.

“Now do I get to know what you’ve done to me?” Hope asked, examining the hand Lizzie had spelled.

“Touch Violet with that hand and she will read false thoughts I put in there.”

“What kind of thoughts?”

“Relax,” Lizzie said. “It just some boring little details to hide your personal information from her. She’ll just think you’ve got nothing interesting going on up there.”

“So, you didn’t change much, then?” Clarke teased, earning him a glare from Hope

“Wait,” Hope eyed Lizzie suspiciously. “What was the wine for?”

“Me,” She smiled, raising the glass to her lips. “You both owe me one.”

* * *

Lizzie’s plan went exactly as expected. Hope placed her hand on top of Violet’s and Ryan watched from across the room as she casually searched Hope’s mind before frowning in disappointment.

While they had bought themselves some time free of her meddling, Violet was never quick to give up on anything. He was certain she’d continue.

He knew because although she hadn’t been able to read Hope’s mind, she had been afforded plenty of opportunities to read his.

It didn’t take long for Hope to come to that realization herself, and at the end of the night, as she and Lizzie were getting ready to leave, she questioned him.

“What I don’t understand is why Violet didn’t just read your mind to find out if there was anything going on between us.”

“I haven’t really been around her since you arrived.” He lied.

He’d succeeded so far in keeping the truth from Hope. He didn’t want her to know that Violet had read his mind multiple times. She knew there wasn’t anything going on between them. What she really wanted to know was if his feelings were reciprocated.

“But the earring,”

“She left here the other night when she was helping Stella with a project.”

Another lie. God, he really couldn’t help himself. Something about Hope Mikaelson made him terrified of honesty. More so than usual.

“Oh,” She frowned.

“By the way,” He added. “You and Lizzie are invited to our Halloween party.”

She smiled. “You know, that actually sounds very fun.”

“Good.” He leaned against the wall as she put her coat on, slipping her hands under her hair to pull it free from the collar. It fell in ripples over her shoulders, shining even in the dull lighting of his apartment.

“Give me your phone,” She said.

“Why?”

“So the next time I’m late meeting you, I can text you instead of running the entire length of campus in ten minutes.”

He smiled, pulling his phone from the back pocket from his pants and handing it to her.

She glanced up at him as she unlocked it. “No password?”

“Nothing to hide,” He replied.

She looked doubtful as he watched her type out a message and hit send.

“All done,” She handed the phone back to him and turned to Lizzie, who was waiting for her by the door.

Josie and Stella had since gone to sleep, Liam and Sarah were both passed out on the couch, the tv still playing softly in front of them, and Nari had gone home a while ago, stating she had practice in the morning.

Once the girls had left, the only ones remaining were Violet and himself.

“Shouldn’t you be heading home?” He asked her, as he began rinsing out beer bottles and tossing them into the recycling bin.

“Do you want me to leave?”

He turned around, giving her a look.

“Alright,” She rolled her eyes. “You know, ever since that Hope showed up you’ve been moodier than usual.”

He sighed, turning back around to continue rinsing out the bottles.

“She cares about you,”

He shook his head. “That’s not true.”

“She does,” She persisted. “I saw it.”

Ryan turned around again. “How did you-”

“Oh please,” Violet tilted her head. “You didn’t seriously think that little spell was going to work, did you?”

He leaned against the sink behind him. “I did, yeah.”

“Aw,” She pouted, running her hand along the counter as she moved closer to him. “Want to know what I found out?”

He shook his head. Even if she were to tell him something about what she saw in Hope’s mind, there was no way he’d be able to believe her. Besides, he genuinely didn’t want to know. Not knowing was safe, there was no disappointment in ignorance, especially when the odds of good news were as low as he assumed them to be.

What would he even do with good news if he got it? Start a relationship with her? No, things between he and Hope were so twisted, so irreversibly damaged beyond repair. He couldn’t imagine in a million years that anything would come of them together, not with their complicated history.

Violet sighed. “Fine, I won’t tell you.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I won’t!” She extended her pinky finger to him. “Promise,”

He smiled, relieved. He locked his finger with hers, shaking lightly.

“Are you sure you don’t want my help taking your mind off of…” She stepped closer to him again, their fingers still interlocked. “That thing that I know is on your mind.”

Ryan dropped her finger then. While he’d never admit this to her, he really didn’t care that she read his mind so often. It was a relief usually, a way for him to be honest without trying. And she was never surprised. She’d seen it all.

He nodded tentatively, his dark eyes meeting her green ones, exposed.

“Is that a yes?” She asked.

He slipped his hand behind her head, letting her see his answer for herself.

Another thing he didn’t mind about Violet, was that she never seemed to mind when he began thinking about something, or rather, someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much to anyone who read despite my time away. I have been so busy with school, but I have no plans to discontinue this story as long as there is want for me to keep writing! Updates may just be a little further apart. Also please allow me some creative freedom with the siren thing lol I tried to stay at lease a bit in line with the tvd universe  
> I did some experimenting with switching perspectives this chapter, so please let me know if it was at all confusing.  
> Lastly, I made the playlist I made for this story public if anyone is interested go here [spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0MxzosO1mLxjShDiYUtFW4?si=UU81KqWlTDCO_HxPpcQ7qA)


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